NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.71.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NWE. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Down 1.4 %

NorthWestern Energy Group stock opened at $49.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 0.43. NorthWestern Energy Group has a twelve month low of $45.97 and a twelve month high of $60.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.29 and a 200-day moving average of $49.49.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $356.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $443.27 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.23%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.75%.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern Energy Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 187,619 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,816,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,402,000 after buying an additional 211,296 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,420,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,342,000 after buying an additional 126,439 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,168,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,341,000 after purchasing an additional 562,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 14.7% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,240,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,636,000 after purchasing an additional 158,805 shares during the last quarter. 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.