Northwest Natural (NWN) Competitors

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) and Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations, community ranking, valuation and profitability.

Is SWX or NWN a better dividend stock?

Southwest Gas pays an annual dividend of $2.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Northwest Natural pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Southwest Gas pays out 90.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Northwest Natural pays out 96.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Northwest Natural has increased its dividend for 70 consecutive years. Northwest Natural is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, SWX or NWN?

Southwest Gas has higher revenue and earnings than Northwest Natural. Northwest Natural is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southwest Gas, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southwest Gas	$5.11B	1.02	$150.89M	$2.75	26.44
Northwest Natural	$1.15B	1.48	$93.87M	$2.03	20.83

Does the media prefer SWX or NWN?

In the previous week, Southwest Gas had 5 more articles in the media than Northwest Natural. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Southwest Gas and 6 mentions for Northwest Natural. Northwest Natural's average media sentiment score of 1.08 beat Southwest Gas' score of 0.92 indicating that Northwest Natural is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southwest Gas	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Northwest Natural	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SWX or NWN?

Southwest Gas received 3 more outperform votes than Northwest Natural when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 52.08% of users gave Northwest Natural an outperform vote while only 51.10% of users gave Southwest Gas an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Southwest Gas	Outperform Votes 278 51.10%	Underperform Votes 266 48.90%
Northwest Natural	Outperform Votes 275 52.08%	Underperform Votes 253 47.92%

Which has more volatility and risk, SWX or NWN?

Southwest Gas has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northwest Natural has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate SWX or NWN?

Southwest Gas currently has a consensus price target of $74.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.77%. Northwest Natural has a consensus price target of $43.50, suggesting a potential upside of 2.85%. Given Northwest Natural's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Northwest Natural is more favorable than Southwest Gas.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southwest Gas	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Northwest Natural	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in SWX or NWN?

92.8% of Southwest Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.1% of Northwest Natural shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Southwest Gas shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Northwest Natural shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is SWX or NWN more profitable?

Northwest Natural has a net margin of 6.90% compared to Southwest Gas' net margin of 3.44%. Southwest Gas' return on equity of 5.99% beat Northwest Natural's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southwest Gas	3.44%	5.99%	1.76%
Northwest Natural	6.90%	5.89%	1.61%

Summary

Southwest Gas and Northwest Natural tied by winning 11 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.