NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Upgraded by LADENBURG THALM/SH SH to “Buy” Rating

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $75.50 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $56.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on NWE. Barclays increased their price objective on NorthWestern from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of NorthWestern from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of NorthWestern from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.10.

NorthWestern Stock Performance

NorthWestern stock opened at $66.42 on Wednesday. NorthWestern has a fifty-two week low of $50.46 and a fifty-two week high of $72.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.32.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). NorthWestern had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 11.24%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. NorthWestern has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.680-3.830 EPS.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. NorthWestern’s payout ratio is 91.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NorthWestern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NWE. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in NorthWestern by 418.2% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in NorthWestern by 129.2% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 531.8% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 27,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,794,000 after buying an additional 23,397 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 17,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,134,000 after buying an additional 4,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of NorthWestern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $271,000. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NorthWestern Company Profile

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ: NWE) is a regulated energy company that delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Through its Electric Operations and Gas Operations segments, the company operates an extensive network of distribution lines, substations and pipelines. NorthWestern’s services encompass the delivery of power sourced from regional transmission systems and the procurement, storage and distribution of natural gas to end users.

Electric delivery services include the management of distribution infrastructure, customer metering and system reliability programs.