Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $55.43.

Several analysts recently weighed in on NWN shares. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered Northwest Natural Gas to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Huntington began coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Monday, September 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural Gas

In related news, Director David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.71, for a total value of $73,065.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 47,759 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,340.89. The trade was a 3.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $221,400 in the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 2.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 743,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,571,000 after purchasing an additional 18,669 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the second quarter valued at $24,160,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $16,287,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 54.1% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 201,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,732,000 after buying an additional 70,773 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 12.8% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 194,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,557,000 after buying an additional 22,055 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Northwest Natural Gas News

Here are the key news stories impacting Northwest Natural Gas this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Northwest Natural raised its 2026 EPS guidance to $3.10–$3.20, citing a SiEnergy rate settlement and cost controls. The higher outlook may support investor confidence in earnings growth. Article: Northwest Natural raises 2026 EPS guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter results also exceeded estimates: the net loss was $0.71 per share versus analysts’ expected $0.88 loss, while revenue of $177.97 million topped forecasts and grew 8% year over year. Article: Northwest Natural Q3 results
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target from $49 to $50 but maintained an “equal weight” rating. The new target is still below the prevailing share price, suggesting limited upside in the firm’s view and potentially weighing on sentiment. Wells Fargo ratings

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:NWN opened at $51.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.18. Northwest Natural Gas has a fifty-two week low of $45.69 and a fifty-two week high of $55.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 0.41.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.88) by $0.17. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 9.75%. The company had revenue of $177.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.40 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.73) earnings per share. Northwest Natural Gas’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is an increase from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4925. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

Northwest Natural Gas Company, operating as NW Natural and a subsidiary of Northwest Natural Holding Company, is an energy and utility company headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Its principal business is the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

NW Natural serves communities primarily in Oregon and southwest Washington through a regulated natural gas distribution system. The company also provides related services, including natural gas storage and programs focused on renewable natural gas and other lower-carbon energy solutions.

The company traces its history to 1859 and has expanded beyond its traditional natural gas operations through investments in water and wastewater utilities.