Reviewing Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) & RGC Resources (NASDAQ:RGCO)

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) and RGC Resources (NASDAQ:RGCO) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

Northwest Natural Gas has a beta of 0.44, indicating that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, RGC Resources has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Northwest Natural Gas and RGC Resources”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northwest Natural Gas	$1.29 billion	1.61	$113.32 million	$3.00	16.41
RGC Resources	$95.33 million	2.33	$13.28 million	$1.34	15.93

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Northwest Natural Gas and RGC Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northwest Natural Gas	0	2	3	1	2.83
RGC Resources	0	0	1	0	3.00

Northwest Natural Gas currently has a consensus target price of $55.25, indicating a potential upside of 12.23%. Given Northwest Natural Gas’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Northwest Natural Gas is more favorable than RGC Resources.

Profitability

This table compares Northwest Natural Gas and RGC Resources’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northwest Natural Gas	9.75%	8.33%	2.03%
RGC Resources	13.05%	11.73%	4.15%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

75.1% of Northwest Natural Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.8% of RGC Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Northwest Natural Gas shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.2% of RGC Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Northwest Natural Gas pays an annual dividend of $1.97 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. RGC Resources pays an annual dividend of $0.87 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Northwest Natural Gas pays out 65.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. RGC Resources pays out 64.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Northwest Natural Gas has increased its dividend for 70 consecutive years and RGC Resources has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years. RGC Resources is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

About Northwest Natural Gas

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. It also engages in gas storage, water and wastewater, non-regulated renewable natural gas, and other investment businesses. In addition, the company provides natural gas service in Oregon and southwest Washington; and water and wastewater connections. Northwest Natural Holding Company was founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

About RGC Resources

RGC Resources, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an energy services company. It sells and distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Roanoke, Virginia, and the surrounding localities. The company also provides various unregulated services. It operates approximately 1,179 miles of transmission and distribution pipeline; and a liquefied natural gas storage facility, as well as owns and operates six metering stations. In addition, it produces biogas. RGC Resources, Inc. was founded in 1883 and is based in Roanoke, Virginia.