Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Issues Q2 Earnings Guidance

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

NYSE NWN traded up $0.09 on Tuesday, hitting $37.95. 48,536 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 330,851. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $37.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.54. Northwest Natural has a 52-week low of $34.95 and a 52-week high of $47.29.

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

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.488 dividend. This represents a $1.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.00%.

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.