NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Lifted to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on NWE. KeyCorp reiterated a sector weight rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $51.71.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock opened at $50.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.06 and a 200 day moving average of $49.43. NorthWestern Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $45.97 and a fifty-two week high of $60.56.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $356.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $443.27 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.23%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.19%. This is a boost from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.75%.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern Energy Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. now owns 12,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 6,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently 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.