Raymond James & Associates Has $22.40 Million Stake in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Raymond James & Associates reduced its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 447,273 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,847 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.73% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $22,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 138.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the first quarter worth $28,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NorthWestern Energy Group

In related news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE NWE opened at $53.32 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.97 and a 1 year high of $55.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51 and a beta of 0.45.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $319.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.40 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 14.21%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.88%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NWE shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NorthWestern Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

NorthWestern Energy Group 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.