NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.88.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NWE shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $559,593.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,257,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,780,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,049,000 after purchasing an additional 187,619 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the first quarter valued at $6,550,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 396,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,840,000 after buying an additional 105,845 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 429.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 105,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,353,000 after purchasing an additional 85,235 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE NWE opened at $55.94 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.14. 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 52 week low of $45.97 and a 52 week high of $55.96.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.05. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The company had revenue of $319.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.65%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.50%.

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.