Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Issues Q2 Earnings Guidance

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) updated its second quarter earnings guidance on Monday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of ($0.16)-($0.08) for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of ($0.03). Northwest Natural also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 2.200-2.400 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Northwest Natural in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. They set a neutral rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $41.40.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

NYSE NWN remained flat at $38.47 on Thursday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 329,475. Northwest Natural has a 1-year low of $34.95 and a 1-year high of $47.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.51. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 0.54.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $433.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.81 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.488 dividend. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.00%.

Northwest Natural Company Profile

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.