NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.10.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of NorthWestern in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded NorthWestern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Barclays raised their target price on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised NorthWestern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NorthWestern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th.

NorthWestern Stock Performance

NWE opened at $72.06 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50 day moving average is $70.96 and its 200 day moving average is $69.39. NorthWestern has a 12-month low of $51.92 and a 12-month high of $75.18.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.02. NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 7.80%. The company had revenue of $516.60 million during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that NorthWestern will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. NorthWestern’s payout ratio is 98.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWE. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in NorthWestern by 263.3% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 142.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of NorthWestern by 3,221.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NorthWestern

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.