Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 1,845 Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lessened its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,225 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,845 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group were worth $622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 33.3% during the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Tucker Asset Management LLC grew its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 32.7% in the third quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 1,233.1% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 2,195 shares during the period. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $126,000. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth $204,000. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.71.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE:NWE opened at $49.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.49. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.97 and a 1-year high of $60.56. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $356.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $443.27 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 13.64%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.21%. This is an increase from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.75%.

About NorthWestern Energy Group

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.