State of Michigan Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 2.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,728 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group were worth $738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 138.1% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group during the first quarter worth about $28,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $35,720.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $559,593.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NWE stock opened at $54.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.45. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.97 and a 52-week high of $55.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $51.96 and its 200 day moving average is $50.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.52.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $319.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.40 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 14.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 80.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NWE. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.43.

NorthWestern Energy Group Company 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.