NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.50.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NWE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America began coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total value of $37,499.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,270.16. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total transaction of $384,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,816 shares in the company, valued at $873,591.20. The trade was a 30.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWE. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1,218.2% in the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 60,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 56,330 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $631,000. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 11.8% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,070,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,250,000 after buying an additional 113,265 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 75,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,758,000 after buying an additional 27,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 600.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 49,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,479,000 after buying an additional 42,479 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Up 0.8 %

NWE opened at $53.18 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.48. NorthWestern Energy Group has a twelve month low of $46.15 and a twelve month high of $57.49.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $345.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $344.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio 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.