Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.50 Per Share

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, November 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This is a 1.5% increase from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4925.

Northwest Natural Gas has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 70 years. Northwest Natural Gas has a dividend payout ratio of 65.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Northwest Natural Gas to earn $3.23 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 61.0%.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NWN stock opened at $47.79 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $48.95 and a 200 day moving average of $50.37. Northwest Natural Gas has a 1 year low of $43.64 and a 1 year high of $55.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 0.40.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.09. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 9.75%.The business had revenue of $243.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $271.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

About Northwest Natural Gas

Northwest Natural Gas Company, doing business as NW Natural, is a regulated natural gas distribution utility serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company delivers natural gas through its pipeline system and provides related services, including energy-efficiency programs, appliance services, and solutions designed to support safe and efficient natural gas use.

Founded in 1859, NW Natural has developed a long-standing presence in the Pacific Northwest. Its natural gas utility operations primarily serve communities in Oregon and southwest Washington.