Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Makes New $401,000 Investment in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 7,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1,218.2% during the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 60,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 56,330 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $631,000. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 11.8% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,070,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,250,000 after purchasing an additional 113,265 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 5,622.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 9,670 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $703,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on 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, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total value of $37,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,270.16. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were 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 trade represents 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 currently owned by insiders.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NWE opened at $54.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.48. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.15 and a twelve month 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 business had revenue of $345.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $344.06 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 15.15%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.