NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Shares Sold by First PREMIER Bank

First PREMIER Bank reduced its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 73,997 shares of the company’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. NorthWestern Energy Group comprises approximately 1.1% of First PREMIER Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. First PREMIER Bank owned 0.12% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $4,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 128.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 63,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,223,000 after purchasing an additional 35,628 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 429.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 105,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,353,000 after buying an additional 85,235 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 10,185 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,780,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,049,000 after acquiring an additional 187,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,862,000. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NorthWestern Energy Group

In related news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $35,720.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at $559,593.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on NWE. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho lifted their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.38.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NWE opened at $54.73 on Wednesday. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.15 and a 12-month high of $57.48. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.05. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 14.21%. The company had revenue of $319.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is 80.50%.

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.