NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $76.78 and last traded at $76.8740, with a volume of 16,808 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $76.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NWE. Weiss Ratings raised NorthWestern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Barclays cut their price target on NorthWestern from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NorthWestern in a report on Thursday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.92.

NorthWestern Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.08 and a 200-day moving average of $71.08.

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

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NorthWestern

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in NorthWestern by 54.4% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern in the third quarter valued at about $207,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 12.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern by 5.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.