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

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

Northwest Natural Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:NWN opened at $40.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.72. Northwest Natural has a 52-week low of $34.82 and a 52-week high of $42.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.00 and a 200 day moving average of $38.59.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.82%. This is a boost from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

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.