Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes Position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NWE. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 11.8% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,070,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,250,000 after acquiring an additional 113,265 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 759,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,476,000 after purchasing an additional 110,461 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 396,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,840,000 after purchasing an additional 105,845 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 204.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 110,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,327,000 after buying an additional 74,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 6.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,027,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,467,000 after buying an additional 61,216 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $37,499.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,270.16. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $873,591.20. This trade represents a 30.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on NWE. StockNews.com cut shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised NorthWestern Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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, Bank of America started coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.50.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:NWE opened at $53.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.15 and a 12-month high of $57.49.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $345.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $344.06 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 7.95%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.