Insider Selling: NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Director Sells $35,720.96 in Stock

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $35,720.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $559,593.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

NWE stock opened at $52.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.08. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.97 and a 12-month high of $55.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.05. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The company had revenue of $319.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.98%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.50%.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern Energy Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 187,619 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,968,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,738,000 after acquiring an additional 19,748 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,168,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,341,000 after purchasing an additional 562,548 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,128,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,597,000 after purchasing an additional 19,369 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 worth $51,467,000 after purchasing an additional 61,216 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. StockNews.com downgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Barclays increased their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

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.