NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on NWE. Barclays lifted their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.88.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE NWE traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $54.73. 290,004 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 328,085. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.52. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 52-week low of $46.15 and a 52-week high of $57.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $54.55 and its 200-day moving average is $52.04.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. Analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $559,593.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dean Capital Management lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 55.2% in the fourth quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 10,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 3,838 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,780,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,049,000 after buying an additional 187,619 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 10.6% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 19.3% in the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 48,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after buying an additional 7,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $305,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

About NorthWestern Energy Group

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.