Spot market spreads between U.S. and European natural gas have narrowed by 15%, reducing arbitrage incentives but stabilizing investing natural gas global flows. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,872 !" Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,092,280 !" Northwest Natural Gas ( NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.08. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 8.34%.The company had revenue of $236.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.950 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year. Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's payout ratio is currently 77.47%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Dividend Kings With the Highest Yield: 6 High Yields in 5 Minutes A number of research firms have weighed in on NWN. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Zacks Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.00. View Our Latest Report on Northwest Natural Gas Insider Activity In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 4,233 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.01, for a total value of $190,527.33. Following the sale, the director owned 67,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,046,681.89. The trade was a 5.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink . In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,430 shares of company stock valued at $1,154,608. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile ( Free Report ) 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. See Also Five stocks we like better than Northwest Natural Gas Using the MarketBeat Dividend Yield Calculator After Trump Deal, Can Meta Stock Withstand TikTok’s Onslaught? Biggest Stock Losers - Today’s Biggest Percentage Decliners Alphabet: After Its Best Quarter in Decades, Is It Time to Buy? What is a Low P/E Ratio and What Does it Tell Investors? Forget Airlines—These Trucking Stocks Are Shifting Into High Gear This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. Should You Invest $1,000 in Northwest Natural Gas Right Now? Before you consider Northwest Natural Gas, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Northwest Natural Gas wasn't on the list. 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