Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.50 Per Share

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, November 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This is a 1.5% increase from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4925.

Northwest Natural Gas has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 70 consecutive years. Northwest Natural Gas has a payout ratio of 65.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Northwest Natural Gas to earn $3.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.97 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.0%.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock opened at $47.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.37. Northwest Natural Gas has a twelve month low of $43.64 and a twelve month high of $55.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $243.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $271.87 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Northwest Natural Gas

Northwest Natural Gas Company, doing business as NW Natural, is a regulated natural gas distribution utility serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company delivers natural gas through its pipeline system and provides related services, including energy-efficiency programs, appliance services, and solutions designed to support safe and efficient natural gas use.

Founded in 1859, NW Natural has developed a long-standing presence in the Pacific Northwest. Its natural gas utility operations primarily serve communities in Oregon and southwest Washington.