Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Declares $0.49 Quarterly Dividend

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWNGet Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.4925 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, August 14th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st.

Northwest Natural Gas has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 70 consecutive years. Northwest Natural Gas has a dividend payout ratio of 65.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Northwest Natural Gas to earn $3.22 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 61.2%.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock opened at $49.61 on Friday. Northwest Natural Gas has a 52 week low of $39.29 and a 52 week high of $55.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $49.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.09.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWNGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.57 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen began coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock. Freedom Capital raised Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.25.

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About Northwest Natural Gas

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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.

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Dividend History for Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN)

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