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

StockNews.com cut shares of NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on NWE. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho raised their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, August 1st. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $53.43.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Up 1.4 %

NWE stock opened at $54.04 on Wednesday. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 52 week low of $45.97 and a 52 week high of $55.47. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 16.73 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.52.

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

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued 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 4.81%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $559,593.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Norges Bank bought a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,257,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 968,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,264,000 after purchasing an additional 208,326 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.8% during the fourth 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 period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 39.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 469,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,892,000 after buying an additional 133,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group in the first quarter valued at $6,550,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.