Barclays PLC Increases Stock Holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 204.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 110,571 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 74,278 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.18% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $6,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 11.8% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,070,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,250,000 after acquiring an additional 113,265 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 759,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,476,000 after purchasing an additional 110,461 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 36.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 396,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,840,000 after purchasing an additional 105,845 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 6.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,027,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,467,000 after buying an additional 61,216 shares during the period. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 1,218.2% during the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 60,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,488,000 after buying an additional 56,330 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on NWE shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday. 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.50.

Insider Activity at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $37,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,270.16. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total transaction of $384,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $873,591.20. This trade represents a 30.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock opened at $52.50 on Friday. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.15 and a 52-week high of $57.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $54.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.48.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $345.20 million for 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.