Mizuho Increases NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Price Target to $56.00

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) had its target price raised by Mizuho from $52.00 to $56.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

NWE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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 cut shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a buy rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $55.38.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock opened at $54.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.52. NorthWestern Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $46.15 and a fifty-two week high of $57.48. The company has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $319.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. NorthWestern Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.77%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is 80.50%.

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 value of $35,720.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at $559,593.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NWE. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group during the first quarter worth $28,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group during the first quarter worth $33,000. CWM LLC raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 140.2% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 142.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

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.