NorthWestern Co. (NYSE:NWE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

NorthWestern Co. (NYSE:NWE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.38.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NWE shares. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on NorthWestern from $46.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. TheStreet lowered shares of NorthWestern from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of NorthWestern from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of NorthWestern in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of NorthWestern in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock.

NorthWestern Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NWE stock opened at $49.59 on Thursday. NorthWestern has a 1-year low of $48.68 and a 1-year high of $61.24. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.87.

NorthWestern (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 24th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.16). NorthWestern had a return on equity of 6.53% and a net margin of 11.67%. The company had revenue of $290.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $341.90 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that NorthWestern will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.16%. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dean Capital Management grew its position in NorthWestern by 14.6% during the second quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 6,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the period. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in NorthWestern during the second quarter worth $5,689,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 72,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,122,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of NorthWestern by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 51,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,897,000 after buying an additional 2,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in NorthWestern by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 9,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Company Profile

NorthWestern Corporation, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, provides electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and various industrial customers. The company operates through three segments: Electric Utility Operations; Natural Gas Utility Operations; and Other. 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.