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

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

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of 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 raised their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a buy rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $55.38.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Up 1.1 %

NWE opened at $55.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $54.59 and a 200 day moving average of $52.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 12 month low of $46.15 and a 12 month high of $57.48. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.46.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $319.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.72%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is 75.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dean Capital Management raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 55.2% in the fourth quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 10,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 3,838 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,780,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,049,000 after purchasing an additional 187,619 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 10.6% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 19.3% in the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 48,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 7,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $305,000. 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.