StockNews.com Lowers NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

NWE has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NorthWestern Energy Group has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $53.43.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE NWE opened at $51.81 on Friday. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 52 week low of $45.97 and a 52 week high of $55.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 0.45.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $310.40 million. During the same period last 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, analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 80.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $559,593.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 138.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

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.