NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Lifted to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on NWE. Barclays boosted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. KeyCorp reaffirmed a sector weight rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a sell rating to a neutral rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NorthWestern Energy Group presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $51.71.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Down 1.2 %

NWE opened at $47.90 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $48.93 and a 200-day moving average of $49.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 1-year low of $45.97 and a 1-year high of $60.56.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.19. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The firm had revenue of $356.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $443.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 80.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 138.1% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the third quarter valued at $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 47.2% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 736 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 33.3% in the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

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.