NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Raised to “Overweight” at Barclays

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) was upgraded by investment analysts at Barclays from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a $56.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $53.00. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 11.02% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho lifted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.50.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

NorthWestern Energy Group stock opened at $50.44 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $54.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.38. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. NorthWestern Energy Group has a one year low of $46.15 and a one year high of $57.49.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.05). NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 15.15%. The company had revenue of $345.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $344.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NorthWestern Energy Group

In related news, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total value of $384,430.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $873,591.20. The trade was a 30.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total value of $37,499.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,270.16. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 29.5% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 6,409 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 19,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 849,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,521,000 after buying an additional 12,091 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC bought a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group during the second quarter worth $912,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 16.2% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Energy Group Company Profile

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.