Cetera Investment Advisers Cuts Holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Cetera Investment Advisers trimmed its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 62.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,062 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,506 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group were worth $582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 155.3% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 38.0% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 30.6% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the 1st quarter valued at $207,000. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective (down previously from $57.50) on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NWE stock opened at $55.39 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.65. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.43 and a 52 week high of $59.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is 71.93%.

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.