NWN vs OGS: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. NWN and OGS share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined NWN and OGS exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Northwest Natural Holding Company (NYSE: NWN) is the holding company for Northwest Natural Gas Company, a regulated natural gas distributor serving roughly 810,000 meters across Oregon and southwest Washington, plus three other pieces: SiEnergy Operating, a fast-growing regulated gas utility serving Texas growth corridors (acquired January 2025, with Pines Gas added in June 2025); NW Natural Water, a roll-up of regulated water and wastewater systems across the Pacific Northwest, Idaho, Texas, Arizona and California; and NW Natural Renewables, a non-regulated renewable natural gas arm. The group also owns the Mist underground gas storage facility in Oregon, which is partly FERC-regulated and sells interstate storage services. Together the businesses reach nearly one million customers in seven states, and the company has operated for more than 167 years.

Full NWN guide

ONE Gas runs three regulated natural gas distribution utilities and nothing else: Oklahoma Natural Gas, Kansas Gas Service and Texas Gas Service, together serving roughly 2.3 million customers, about 92% of them residential. The company does not drill for gas, does not own long-haul pipelines, and does not sell electricity. It buys gas, delivers it, and passes the commodity cost through to customers at no markup. Earnings come instead from an allowed return on capital sunk into pipe, meters and regulators, an average rate base of about $6.4 billion in 2026. Terms are set state by state: allowed returns on equity near 9.4% in Oklahoma, 9.5% in Kansas and 9.8% in Texas, on equity layers around 60%. Roughly 70% of margin arrives as fixed customer charges, so a mild winter bruises results less than it once did.

Full OGS guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• NWN drivers: SiEnergy and Texas customer growth; Rate cases converting capital spending into revenue.
• OGS drivers: Rate base growth, funded by a defined capital plan; Rate cases and the trackers that shorten regulatory lag.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Decarbonization policy is the structural risk that separates NWN from a Sun Belt gas utility: Oregon and Washington both pursue aggressive emissions reduction from building gas use, and electrification mandates, building-code changes or new compliance costs could shrink the customer base the rate base is spread across. For OGS, regulatory outcomes are the central risk: a commission can disallow spending, set a lower allowed return, or simply take long enough that the company under-earns on capital already deployed.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick NWN if you believe its drivers more; OGS if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the NWN and OGS guides.

NWN. Valuation sits in the normal band for a small-cap regulated gas utility, at roughly 17 times trailing earnings and around 16 times the midpoint of 2026 guidance of $2.95 to $3.15 per share, which management now expects to land in the upper half. Reported figures are all in US dollars. Because earnings are concentrated in the heating season, quarterly comparisons are close to meaningless in isolation: the June 2026 quarter produced ~$0.01 per share and the first half produced ~$2.33, so the trailing twelve-month number is the only fair basis for a multiple.

OGS. A sales multiple is close to meaningless here, since the commodity component of revenue is billed at cost and simply flows back out. Regulated gas distributors are compared on price to earnings against rate base growth and allowed ROE, and OGS at roughly 17 times trailing earnings sits in the normal band for the group. Total debt of about $3.4 billion against A3 and A- credit ratings, with adjusted cash flow to debt guided at 19% to 20%, is the other half of the valuation conversation.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): NWN shows revenue (ttm) ~$1.29B, net income (ttm) ~$126M, diluted eps (ttm) ~$2.99, market cap ~$2.1B; OGS shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.31B, heavily pass-through gas cost, net income / eps (ttm) ~$288M, ~$4.66 per diluted share, q2 2026 (reported august) adjusted net income ~$52.1M, ~$0.82 per share, GAAP ~$0.74, 2026 adjusted eps guidance ~$4.83 to ~$4.95, raised to the upper half.

NWN and OGS are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined NWN and OGS exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.