Hokuriku Gas Co., Ltd. (9537) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: ¥24.26B
• Dividend Yield: 2.18%
• Average Volume (3M): 1.74K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): ―
• Beta (1Y): 0.15
• Revenue Growth: 6.66%
• EPS Growth: N/A
• Country: JP
• Employees: 640
• Sector: Utilities
• Sector Strength: 65
• Industry: Regulated Gas
• EPS (TTM): -54.87
• Shares Outstanding: 4,800,000
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 1,350
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 1,743
• PEG Ratio: -0.04
• Price to Book (P/B): 0.33
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.26
• P/FCF Ratio: 4.40
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: N/A
• 1Y Price Target: N/A
• Price Target Upside: N/A
• Rating Consensus: N/A
• Number of Analyst Covering: 0
• EPS Forecast (FY): N/A
• Revenue Forecast (FY): N/A

• Rating: 69 Neutral
• Price Target: ¥6,209.00 ▲(66.68% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 03/17/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 03/17/26

The score is driven primarily by stable financial performance (low leverage, strong equity position, and improving profitability/FCF). Technicals are supportive with strong trend momentum, but overbought signals raise near-term risk. Valuation is a key headwind due to the negative P/E and only modest dividend yield.

Positive Factors

Balance Sheet Strength

A low debt-to-equity ratio and strong equity ratio provide durable financial flexibility for utility capital expenditures and network maintenance. This reduces refinancing risk, supports steady investment in infrastructure, and preserves credit capacity across economic cycles.

Improving Cash Generation

Rising free cash flow and an improved operating-cash-to-net-income relationship indicate stronger ability to self-fund capex, service obligations, and sustain shareholder distributions. Improved cash conversion enhances long-term financial resilience.

Regulated Local Monopoly

Operating as a regional city-gas utility under a regulatory framework provides predictable revenue mechanics (including fuel-cost pass-through) and structural demand from residential, commercial, and industrial customers, supporting stable, long-term cash flows.

Negative Factors

Weak EBIT Margin

A persistently weak EBIT margin suggests limited operational efficiency or rising operating costs versus peers. That constrains internal funding for modernization and weakens profitability resilience if regulatory recoveries or volumes wobble.

Cash Flow Variability

Volatile free-cash-to-earnings conversion complicates multi-year planning for capex and dividends. Even with improving FCF, variability raises execution risk for projects and makes sustaining smooth cash returns less certain over the medium term.

Concentration in Core Gas Sales

Dependence on regulated city-gas sales with limited disclosed diversification limits growth levers and increases exposure to structural demand shifts or decarbonization trends. Lack of clear ancillary revenue scale reduces optionality.

Hokuriku Gas Co., Ltd. Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Hokuriku Gas Co.,Ltd. operates gas business in Japan. The company produces, sells, and supplies gas to customers in Niigata, Nagaoka, Sanjo, Kashiwazaki, and Kamo cities, as well as in Tagami town and Kariwa village. It also undertakes gas construction contracts; and sells gas appliances. The company was incorporated in 1913 and is headquartered in Niigata, Japan.

How the Company Makes Money

Hokuriku Gas primarily earns revenue by selling city gas to end users within its service area. Its main revenue stream is gas sales volume multiplied by tariffs/fees set under Japan’s city-gas regulatory framework (where applicable), which typically include components designed to recover procurement costs (e.g., fuel cost adjustment mechanisms) and regulated distribution/service charges. A second important earnings driver is the set of charges associated with operating the local gas supply infrastructure—distribution and retail supply services tied to its pipeline network and customer metering/billing. The company may also generate ancillary revenue from customer-related services connected to gas usage (e.g., installation/maintenance work, equipment-related services, and other energy or living-support offerings), but specific segment breakdowns, material partnerships, and the relative contribution of these items are not available from the provided information and are therefore null.

Hokuriku Gas Co., Ltd. Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Financials are solid overall: profitability has recovered with improving net margin, the balance sheet shows low leverage and a strong equity ratio, and free cash flow has improved. The main drawback is a weak EBIT margin and some variability in cash flow versus earnings.

Income Statement

The company has shown a positive revenue growth trajectory with a recovery in profitability. The Gross Profit Margin has remained relatively strong, and there is a notable improvement in Net Profit Margin from the previous year's loss. However, the EBIT margin remains weak, indicating potential operational challenges.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is solid with a low Debt-to-Equity Ratio, highlighting financial stability. The Equity Ratio is strong, indicating that a significant portion of the company's assets is financed by equity, reducing financial risk. Return on Equity has improved, reflecting better profitability.

Cash Flow

Cash flow indicators show positive trends with significant improvements in Free Cash Flow. The Operating Cash Flow to Net Income Ratio suggests efficient cash generation relative to profitability. However, fluctuations in Free Cash Flow to Net Income Ratio indicate variability in cash flow relative to earnings.

Breakdown	TTM	Mar 2025	Mar 2024	Mar 2023	Mar 2022	Mar 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	63.39B	61.77B	61.41B	69.63B	52.36B	48.33B
Gross Profit	23.20B	16.41B	13.62B	14.81B	15.94B	16.13B
EBITDA	8.59B	7.34B	5.13B	6.46B	7.34B	8.59B
Net Income	2.40B	1.95B	-1.76B	420.15M	953.81M	1.61B
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	64.56B	65.19B	63.03B	64.22B	64.08B	62.41B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	6.78B	8.75B	7.19B	6.97B	6.75B	6.33B
Total Debt	103.92M	109.67M	1.15B	188.74M	661.77M	1.35B
Total Liabilities	11.48B	13.04B	13.32B	13.08B	13.36B	12.14B
Stockholders Equity	49.75B	48.83B	46.44B	47.90B	47.51B	47.11B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	0.00	3.64B	35.39M	694.82M	3.25B	3.37B
Operating Cash Flow	0.00	7.76B	4.75B	5.54B	7.96B	7.83B
Investing Cash Flow	0.00	-4.94B	-5.06B	-4.09B	-4.97B	-8.67B
Financing Cash Flow	0.00	-1.40B	299.84M	-1.05B	-1.09B	-127.37M

Hokuriku Gas Co., Ltd. Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 3725.00
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Negative
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For JP:9537, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 3725 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 4716.75, below the 50-day MA of 4214.50, and below the 200-day MA of 3794.55, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 309.56 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 61.95 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 60.85 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for JP:9537.

Hokuriku Gas Co., Ltd. Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
9536	76 Outperform	¥92.42B	8.94	9.07%	3.61%	9.39%	77.24%
9543	75 Outperform	¥110.71B	8.99	7.99%	3.89%	1.08%	37.11%
9534	74 Outperform	¥79.62B	19.04	―	2.88%	2.77%	10.64%
9533	73 Outperform	¥488.92B	28.19	6.03%	1.81%	7.08%	43.50%
9537	69 Neutral	¥24.26B	-17.01	―	2.18%	6.66%	―
Sector *	66 Neutral	$17.65B	18.10	5.60%	3.62%	6.62%	11.55%
9539	62 Neutral	¥45.44B	11.82	―	1.81%	0.93%	1212.45%