Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Boosts Stock Holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,424 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,659 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group were worth $8,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the third quarter worth $36,513,000. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,168,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,341,000 after buying an additional 562,548 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 188.1% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 335,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,080,000 after buying an additional 219,145 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,816,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,402,000 after acquiring an additional 211,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,706,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NWE stock opened at $50.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.97 and a 1-year high of $60.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $49.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.48.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $356.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.71.

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.