Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $279,000 in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 4,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 140.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total value of $384,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $873,591.20. This represents a 30.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,270.16. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NWE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America began coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:NWE opened at $50.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.48. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $46.15 and a one year high of $57.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $54.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.36.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $345.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $344.06 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 15.15%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.11%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.08%.

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.