Captrust Financial Advisors Takes Position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 4,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 759,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,476,000 after purchasing an additional 110,461 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 396,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,840,000 after purchasing an additional 105,845 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,027,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,467,000 after purchasing an additional 61,216 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management raised 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 purchasing an additional 56,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 600.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 49,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 42,479 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NorthWestern Energy Group

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on NWE. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America began 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 objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NWE opened at $50.93 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.38. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.48. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.15 and a 52-week high of $57.49.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $345.20 million during 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.11%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is 70.08%.

NorthWestern Energy Group 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.