NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a buy rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NorthWestern Energy Group has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $54.88.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NWE stock opened at $57.27 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 52-week low of $45.97 and a 52-week high of $57.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.61. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.05. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 14.21%. The company had revenue of $319.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. NorthWestern Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.54%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.50%.

Insider Activity

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $35,720.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at $559,593.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NWE. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 956,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,658,000 after buying an additional 3,849 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,257,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $168,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 31,407.7% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 4,083 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

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.