Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.08 EPS

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $136.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $132.47 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.65) EPS. Northwest Natural updated its FY24 guidance to $2.20-2.40 EPS.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Northwest Natural stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $41.04. 40,059 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 278,080. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.00 and its 200-day moving average is $38.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Northwest Natural has a 12 month low of $34.82 and a 12 month high of $42.56.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. This is a boost from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is 92.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NWN. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday.

About Northwest Natural

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the United States. The company operates a mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities, third-party marketers, and electric generators; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center.