NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.30 EPS

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.30), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $475.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $471.60 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 13.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. NorthWestern Energy Group updated its FY24 guidance to $3.42-3.62 EPS.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Up 0.8 %

NorthWestern Energy Group stock traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.29. 274,909 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 394,423. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $49.29 and its 200-day moving average is $49.49. NorthWestern Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $45.97 and a fifty-two week high of $60.56.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.17%. This is a positive change from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Guggenheim upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.71.

About NorthWestern Energy Group

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.