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

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.71.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Up 1.3 %

NorthWestern Energy Group stock opened at $48.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 1 year low of $45.97 and a 1 year high of $60.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.41.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $356.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $443.27 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.23%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern Energy Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 6.2% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 26,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,527 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 165,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,011,000 after acquiring an additional 2,746 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,852,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,506,000 after acquiring an additional 74,439 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 17.2% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 64,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,067,000 after acquiring an additional 9,425 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 3.8% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 28,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.