Head to Head Survey: Northwest Natural Gas (NWN) and Its Competitors

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) is one of 45 public companies in the “Gas Utilities” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Northwest Natural Gas to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

75.1% of Northwest Natural Gas shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.8% of shares of all “Gas Utilities” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Northwest Natural Gas shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.2% of shares of all “Gas Utilities” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Northwest Natural Gas and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northwest Natural Gas	9.65%	8.23%	1.97%
Northwest Natural Gas Competitors	19.19%	7.78%	3.63%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Northwest Natural Gas and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northwest Natural Gas	0	4	5	1	2.70
Northwest Natural Gas Competitors	466	1411	1190	57	2.27

Northwest Natural Gas currently has a consensus price target of $55.43, suggesting a potential upside of 7.15%. As a group, “Gas Utilities” companies have a potential upside of 11.34%. Given Northwest Natural Gas’ rivals higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Northwest Natural Gas has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Northwest Natural Gas and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northwest Natural Gas	$1.29 billion	$113.32 million	17.24
Northwest Natural Gas Competitors	$3.02 billion	$316.42 million	31.49

Northwest Natural Gas’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Northwest Natural Gas. Northwest Natural Gas is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Risk and Volatility

Northwest Natural Gas has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northwest Natural Gas’ rivals have a beta of 0.42, suggesting that their average share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Northwest Natural Gas pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Northwest Natural Gas pays out 66.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Gas Utilities” companies pay a dividend yield of 12.1% and pay out 17.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Northwest Natural Gas has raised its dividend for 70 consecutive years. Northwest Natural Gas lags its rivals as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Summary

Northwest Natural Gas rivals beat Northwest Natural Gas on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About Northwest Natural Gas

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. It also engages in gas storage, water and wastewater, non-regulated renewable natural gas, and other investment businesses. In addition, the company provides natural gas service in Oregon and southwest Washington; and water and wastewater connections. Northwest Natural Holding Company was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.