NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Receives $57.50 Average PT from Analysts

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.50.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays raised NorthWestern Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America started coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Down 0.8 %

NWE opened at $53.00 on Wednesday. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 52 week low of $46.15 and a 52 week high of $57.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.48.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $345.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $344.06 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 7.95%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.91%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.08%.

Insider Transactions at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other news, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total value of $384,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $873,591.20. This represents a 30.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $37,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,888 shares in the company, valued at $583,270.16. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NWE. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1,218.2% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 60,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,488,000 after buying an additional 56,330 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth $631,000. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 11.8% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,070,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,250,000 after acquiring an additional 113,265 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 58.2% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 75,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,758,000 after acquiring an additional 27,601 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 600.3% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 49,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 42,479 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NorthWestern Energy Group

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.