NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.50.

Several equities analysts have commented on NWE shares. StockNews.com lowered NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays upgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total transaction of $384,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,816 shares in the company, valued at $873,591.20. The trade was a 30.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $37,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,888 shares in the company, valued at $583,270.16. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern Energy Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NWE. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Passumpsic Savings Bank purchased a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $610,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $279,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,536,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,935,000 after acquiring an additional 35,279 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:NWE opened at $53.18 on Wednesday. NorthWestern Energy Group has a twelve month low of $46.15 and a twelve month high of $57.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its 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 firm 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 last year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.89%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.08%.

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.