NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

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

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America assumed coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a buy rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NorthWestern Energy Group presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $55.38.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

NWE opened at $54.49 on Tuesday. NorthWestern Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $46.15 and a fifty-two week high of $57.48. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.08.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.05. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The business had revenue of $319.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.80%.

Insider Transactions at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $35,720.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at $559,593.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern Energy Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC grew its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $242,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 157.1% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 34.5% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.