Northwest Natural Lifts 2026 Profit Outlook To $3.10–$3.20 — And Increases Its Dividend
Nine-month earnings improved, while higher depreciation and financing costs limited the benefits of new utility rates.
Northwest Natural Holding, which owns gas, water and wastewater utilities, raised its 2026 earnings outlook Thursday to $3.10–$3.20 per share, according to its SEC earnings filing. Management previously expected earnings in the upper half of a $2.95–$3.15 range; the company also declared its largest dividend increase since 2012.
Better Earnings Beyond Acquisition Costs
Earnings for the first nine months of 2026 were $1.62 per share. The year-earlier comparison was $1.36 under standard accounting, or $1.52 with acquisition and business-development expenses excluded, the company said in its earnings statement.
Justin Palfreyman, president and chief executive officer of Northwest Natural Holding, credited “disciplined cost management, constructive regulatory outcomes, and continued customer growth” for the performance in the earnings statement.
The third quarter still produced a loss of $0.71 per share, compared with $0.73 a year earlier. At NW Natural, new Oregon and Washington rates and lower operating expenses helped, but higher depreciation and financing costs absorbed those benefits.
Texas provided more of the nine-month improvement. SiEnergy's net income increased by $4.4 million, helped by customer growth and Texas House Bill 4384, which allows depreciation and interest costs on investments to be deferred. The comparison also benefited from a full nine months of contributions from SiEnergy and Pines, bought on January 7, 2025, and June 2, 2025, respectively.
NWN Water's nine-month net income fell by $1.7 million. Rate increases and customer growth were outweighed by higher operating and depreciation expenses.
New Connections, New Utility Rates
The utility network added 17,000 gas and water connections during the 12 months ended September 30, 2026, a growth rate of 1.8%. Its Pacific Northwest gas business serves Oregon and southwest Washington, SiEnergy operates in Texas, and the water business serves Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Arizona and Texas.
Regulators have approved additional revenue for NW Natural. Washington's rate order provides increases of $20.1 million in the first year, $7.5 million in the second and $7.4 million in the third; the first new rates began August 1, 2026. Oregon approved a $13.0 million annual revenue increase, against a $15.6 million request, with rates taking effect October 31, 2026.
SiEnergy's Texas settlement remains pending. The agreement calls for an $8.6 million revenue increase rather than the $12.0 million requested. If approved, management expects the new rates to begin in November 2026.
System Spending And Dividend Growth
Northwest Natural invested $373 million in gas and water systems during the first nine months to support reliability and growth. Its full-year capital spending forecast remains $500 million–$550 million, with $2.6 billion–$2.9 billion planned for 2026–2030.
Management retained its annual earnings-per-share growth target of 4%–6% for 2026–2030, measured from adjusted 2025 earnings. The target could reach 5%–7% if the MX3 gas storage project starts service before the end of 2029. The outlook assumes continued customer growth, average weather and no significant changes to the regulatory assumptions or laws underlying the forecast.
The quarterly dividend will be $0.50 per share, equivalent to an indicated annual rate of $2.00. The increase extends the company's annual dividend-growth streak to 71 years.
The $0.50 quarterly dividend is payable Friday, November 13, to shareholders recorded on October 30.
