NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Receives $57.50 Average Price Target from Brokerages

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised NorthWestern Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com cut NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, 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 price target for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total transaction of $384,430.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,816 shares in the company, valued at $873,591.20. This represents a 30.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total value of $37,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,270.16. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the third quarter worth approximately $286,000. Passumpsic Savings Bank purchased a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $610,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $279,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,536,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,935,000 after purchasing an additional 35,279 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock opened at $53.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.50. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 12-month low of $46.15 and a 12-month high of $57.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $344.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.