KBC Group NV Boosts Stock Position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,676 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 465 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group were worth $96,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NWE. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 4.8% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 269,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,416,000 after acquiring an additional 11,422 shares in the last quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 103,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,935,000 after acquiring an additional 6,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1,218.2% during the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 60,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 56,330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NWE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho increased their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.00.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock opened at $56.75 on Friday. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.15 and a 1-year high of $57.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $55.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.38 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 issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.08%.

NorthWestern Energy Group Profile

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.