Northwest Natural (NWN) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Tuesday

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) is scheduled to release its earnings data before the market opens on Tuesday, November 12th. Analysts expect Northwest Natural to post earnings of ($0.79) per share for the quarter. Persons that are interested in registering for the company's earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.06. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 7.18% and a return on equity of 6.31%. The firm had revenue of $211.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Northwest Natural to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $3 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE NWN traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.10. 168,468 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 279,740. Northwest Natural has a 12-month low of $34.82 and a 12-month high of $41.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62 and a beta of 0.58.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. This is a boost from Northwest Natural's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural's payout ratio is currently 89.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NWN. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Company Profile

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.