Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 7,531 Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Cetera Investment Advisers lessened its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 24.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,432 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,531 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group were worth $1,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.8% during the 4th 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 during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,968,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,738,000 after buying an additional 19,748 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,128,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,597,000 after purchasing an additional 19,369 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,027,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,467,000 after purchasing an additional 61,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 849,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,521,000 after purchasing an additional 12,091 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NWE shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted 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, StockNews.com downgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. 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, NorthWestern Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.75.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NWE opened at $56.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.36. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.15 and a 1-year high of $57.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.26.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $319.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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 owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $559,593.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.94% 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.