Northwest Natural Gas (NWN) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. Over the decades, NW Natural expanded through mergers and system upgrades, transitioning from coal-produced gas to cleaner natural gas deliveries beginning in the mid-20th century. The company has continually reinvested in its infrastructure, upgrading pipelines and metering systems to improve reliability and safety for customers across urban and rural service territories.

Today, NW Natural serves more than three-quarters of a million customers throughout the greater Portland metropolitan area, the Willamette Valley, the Rogue Valley and parts of southwest Washington. In addition to its core gas distribution services, the company offers conservation programs, energy efficiency incentives and natural gas vehicle fuel services. Its network is monitored around the clock to detect and respond promptly to any operational issues, ensuring a high level of service continuity for both residential neighborhoods and large-scale industrial users.

Under the leadership of President and Chief Executive Officer Mary Kipp, NW Natural has pursued strategic initiatives focused on sustainability and decarbonization. The company is actively exploring renewable natural gas (RNG) projects, hydrogen blending trials and infrastructure modernization aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Governed by a board of directors with expertise in utilities, finance and environmental policy, NW Natural continues to balance customer affordability with investments in long-term system resilience and cleaner energy solutions.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $41.50 to $41.90
• 50-Day Range: $39.50 to $42.44
• 52-Week Range: $38.03 to $44.38
• Volume: 230,046 shs
• Average Volume: 271,434 shs
• Market Capitalization: $1.68 billion
• P/E Ratio: 16.44
• Dividend Yield: 4.71%
• Price Target: $48.00
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Northwest Natural Gas scored higher than 88% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 17th out of 97 stocks in the utilities sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.6 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Northwest Natural Gas has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.33, and is based on 1 buy rating, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Northwest Natural Gas has a consensus price target of $48.00, representing about 15.4% upside from its current price of $41.60.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Northwest Natural Gas has only been the subject of 1 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 24.89%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Northwest Natural Gas are expected to grow by 24.89% in the coming year, from $2.33 to $2.91 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Northwest Natural Gas is 16.44, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 280.68.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Northwest Natural Gas is 16.44, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Utilities sector average P/E ratio of about 52.22.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Northwest Natural Gas has a P/B Ratio of 1.21. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.89% of the float of Northwest Natural Gas has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Northwest Natural Gas has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.6, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Northwest Natural Gas has recently decreased by 18.22%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Leadership

Northwest Natural Gas is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 4.64%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Northwest Natural Gas has been increasing its dividend for 70 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Northwest Natural Gas is 77.47%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Northwest Natural Gas will have a dividend payout ratio of 67.35% next year. This indicates that Northwest Natural Gas will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.89% of the float of Northwest Natural Gas has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Northwest Natural Gas has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.6, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Northwest Natural Gas has recently decreased by 18.22%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.50

News Sentiment

Northwest Natural Gas has a news sentiment score of 1.50. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.89 average news sentiment score of Utilities companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 5 news articles for Northwest Natural Gas this week, compared to 6 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 8 people have searched for NWN on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -27% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 4 people have added Northwest Natural Gas to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -20% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Northwest Natural Gas insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $918,517.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 0.84% of the stock of Northwest Natural Gas is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

75.13% of the stock of Northwest Natural Gas is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

NWN Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have NWN shares performed this year?

Northwest Natural Gas' stock was trading at $39.56 on January 1st, 2025. Since then, NWN shares have increased by 5.2% and is now trading at $41.60.

How were Northwest Natural Gas' earnings last quarter?

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August, 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.08. The utilities provider had revenue of $236.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.34% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 8.60%.
Read the conference call transcript.

Who are Northwest Natural Gas' major shareholders?

Top institutional investors of Northwest Natural Gas include State Street Corp (5.17%), Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. (3.03%), First Trust Advisors LP (2.56%) and Geode Capital Management LLC (2.37%). Insiders that own company stock include David Hugo Anderson, David A Weber and Jane L Peverett.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Northwest Natural Gas?

Shares of NWN stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Northwest Natural Gas own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Northwest Natural Gas investors own include American Water Works (AWK), Humana (HUM), Waste Connections (WCN), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH), The RMR Group (RMR), AU Optronics (AUOTY) and Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR).

Company Calendar

• Record date for 8/15 Dividend: 7/31/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 8/15 Dividend: 7/31/2025
• Last Earnings: 8/05/2025
• Dividend Payable: 8/15/2025
• Today: 9/16/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/11/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Utilities
• Industry: UTIL - GAS DISTR
• Sub-Industry: Gas Utilities
• Current Symbol: NYSE:NWN
• CIK: 73020
• Web: www.nwnatural.com
• Phone: (503) 226-4211
• Fax: 503-273-4822
• Employees: 1,452
• Year Founded: 1859

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Northwest Natural Gas: $48.00
• High Price Target: $49.00
• Low Price Target: $47.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +14.7%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.33
• Research Coverage: 3 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $2.53
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 16.55
• Forward P/E Ratio: 17.97
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $78.87 million
• Net Margins: 8.34%
• Pretax Margin: 11.66%
• Return on Equity: 8.60%
• Return on Assets: 2.25%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 1.43
• Current Ratio: 0.68
• Quick Ratio: 0.52

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $1.15 billion
• Price / Sales: 1.46
• Cash Flow: $6.14 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 6.82
• Book Value: $34.52 per share
• Price / Book: 1.21

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 40,310,000
• Free Float: 39,971,000
• Market Cap: $1.69 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.59