NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.71.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Guggenheim raised NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NWE opened at $50.45 on Friday. NorthWestern Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $45.97 and a fifty-two week high of $60.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67 and a beta of 0.43.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.19. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The business had revenue of $356.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $443.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is 80.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 138.1% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 33.3% during the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 499.5% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,000. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.