NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.15 EPS

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.15), FiscalAI reports. NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The business had revenue of $427.00 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. NorthWestern’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

NorthWestern Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWE traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $82.02. The stock had a trading volume of 923,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,170. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. NorthWestern has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $84.18.

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. NorthWestern’s payout ratio is presently 96.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWE. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in NorthWestern by 418.2% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in NorthWestern in the second quarter valued at about $137,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in NorthWestern by 8.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NorthWestern in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised NorthWestern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $70.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, October 26th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of NorthWestern from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NorthWestern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.25.

About NorthWestern

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, is a regulated electric and natural gas utility headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The company generates, purchases, transmits and distributes electricity, and provides natural gas distribution and related services to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers.

NorthWestern Energy serves customers primarily in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Its operations include electric generation facilities and transmission and distribution networks, as well as natural gas pipelines and distribution systems.