Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 58,668 Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 171,362 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58,668 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.28% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $9,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 0.7% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,235,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,887,000 after purchasing an additional 14,654 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $970,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 62,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,559,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group in the third quarter worth approximately $251,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 81.0% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,914,000 after acquiring an additional 22,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho increased their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.00.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Up 0.7 %

NorthWestern Energy Group stock opened at $55.59 on Tuesday. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.15 and a twelve month high of $57.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.47.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.05). NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 15.15%. The company had revenue of $345.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $344.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.08%.

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.