Analysts Set NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Price Target at $60.20

Shares of NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.20.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NWE. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NorthWestern from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on NorthWestern from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NorthWestern in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NorthWestern from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on NorthWestern from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NorthWestern

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 5,851.3% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,005,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,920,000 after buying an additional 988,984 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 1,214.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 920,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,413,000 after acquiring an additional 850,517 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of NorthWestern in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,439,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NorthWestern in the fourth quarter worth about $50,274,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in NorthWestern by 479.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 707,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,683,000 after acquiring an additional 585,768 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Price Performance

NWE stock opened at $68.42 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.02. NorthWestern has a 52-week low of $50.46 and a 52-week high of $72.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.27, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.33.

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

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. NorthWestern’s payout ratio is currently 89.80%.

About NorthWestern

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.