Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) to Issue Dividend Increase – $1.97 Per Share

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of 1.97 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, February 13th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 16.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This is a 300.0% increase from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49.

Northwest Natural Gas has increased its dividend 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 $2.91 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 67.7%.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

NWN opened at $46.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.24. Northwest Natural Gas has a 12-month low of $38.94 and a 12-month high of $49.63.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported ($0.73) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.82) by $0.09. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.30% and a net margin of 7.94%.The company had revenue of $164.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.71) EPS. Northwest Natural Gas’s quarterly revenue was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE: NWN), commonly known as NW Natural, is a publicly traded energy utility primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the company operates an extensive pipeline network spanning thousands of miles across Oregon and southwest Washington. Its core business activities include gas procurement, system operation and maintenance, safety inspections and customer service support.

Dating back to the mid-19th century, Northwest Natural traces its origins to the Portland Gas Light Company, which first illuminated Portland streets with manufactured gas in 1859.