Inspire Advisors LLC Sells 3,376 Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Inspire Advisors LLC trimmed its position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 10.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,333 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,376 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group were worth $1,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NWE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 10.6% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 19.3% in the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 48,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 7,913 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group in the first quarter valued at $305,000. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.0% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $35,720.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at $559,593.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NWE. StockNews.com downgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America began coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. 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 report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.75.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE NWE traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $56.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 39,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,823. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.15 and a 52 week high of $57.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.29.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its quarterly 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. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The business had revenue of $319.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.60%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.50%.

NorthWestern Energy Group 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.