NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $68.92, but opened at $71.87. NorthWestern shares last traded at $74.0550, with a volume of 218,344 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on NorthWestern from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings cut NorthWestern from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on NorthWestern from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NorthWestern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.70.

NorthWestern Trading Up 8.8%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.27. The stock has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.08. NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The company had revenue of $392.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that NorthWestern Corporation will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.75%.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 129.2% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 418.2% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NorthWestern in the second quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Mint Tower Capital Management B.V. bought a new position in NorthWestern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $156,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NorthWestern Company Profile

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, is an energy utility that provides electricity and natural gas services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company’s operations include the generation, purchase, transmission, and distribution of electricity, as well as the distribution and supply of natural gas.

NorthWestern Energy serves customers primarily in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Its electric generation portfolio includes a combination of company-owned facilities and purchased power from sources such as hydroelectric, coal, natural gas, and renewable energy.