Short Interest in NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Rises By 25.6%

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,727,170 shares, an increase of 25.6% from the January 29th total of 2,170,955 shares. Approximately 4.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 703,360 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 703,360 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Approximately 4.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

NorthWestern Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NorthWestern stock traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.67. 464,719 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 600,852. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $67.56 and a 200-day moving average of $63.42. NorthWestern has a 12 month low of $50.46 and a 12 month high of $72.21. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 24.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). NorthWestern had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 7.62%. The company had revenue of $414.26 million during the quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered NorthWestern from an “equal weight” rating to a “strong sell” rating and set a $53.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.50.

NorthWestern Company Profile

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ: NWE) is a regulated energy company that delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Through its Electric Operations and Gas Operations segments, the company operates an extensive network of distribution lines, substations and pipelines. NorthWestern’s services encompass the delivery of power sourced from regional transmission systems and the procurement, storage and distribution of natural gas to end users.

Electric delivery services include the management of distribution infrastructure, customer metering and system reliability programs.