NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Sets New 12-Month High at $55.59

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $55.59 and last traded at $55.58, with a volume of 104809 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.88.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $319.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is 80.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NorthWestern Energy Group

In related news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $35,720.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $559,593.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWE. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 34.5% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 3,210 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 12.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 36.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 396,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,840,000 after purchasing an additional 105,845 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 9.9% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 52,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,636,000 after buying an additional 4,738 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 79.4% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after buying an additional 7,247 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.