NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Given New $60.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) had its price objective raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on NWE. Bank of America started coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho boosted their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NorthWestern Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.14.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NWE opened at $55.32 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. NorthWestern Energy Group has a twelve month low of $46.15 and a twelve month high of $57.48. The company’s 50 day moving average is $55.13 and its 200 day moving average is $52.39. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 17.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.05. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 14.21%. The firm had revenue of $319.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.50%.

Insider Activity at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $35,720.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $559,593.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,780,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,049,000 after purchasing an additional 187,619 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 10.6% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 19.3% during the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 48,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,493,000 after acquiring an additional 7,913 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group during the first quarter worth about $305,000. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.0% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NorthWestern Energy Group Company Profile

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc provides electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and various industrial customers. It generates, purchases, transmits, and distributes electricity; and produces, purchases, stores, transmits, and distributes natural gas, as well as owns municipal franchises to provide natural gas service in the communities.