Insider Selling: NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) VP Sells 1,565 Shares of Stock

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) VP John D. Hines sold 1,565 shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.15, for a total transaction of $80,049.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,677,413.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NWE traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $51.09. 32,663 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 384,091. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.97 and a fifty-two week high of $60.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $49.59 and its 200 day moving average is $49.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 0.43.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $475.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.60 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.31%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,513,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,257,000. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,168,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,341,000 after buying an additional 562,548 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 188.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 335,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,080,000 after purchasing an additional 219,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in 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 period. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim raised NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.71.

NorthWestern Energy Group Company Profile

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.