AQR Capital Management LLC Raises Position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 396,409 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 105,845 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.65% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $19,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $168,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 31,407.7% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 4,083 shares in the last quarter. Dean Capital Management lifted its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 55.2% in the fourth quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 10,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 3,838 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.8% during the 4th 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. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NWE stock opened at $57.22 on Tuesday. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.97 and a twelve month high of $57.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.69. 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 (NYSE:NWE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $319.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.40 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 14.21%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Research analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America began coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised NorthWestern Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.88.

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.