NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $56.00 to $57.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.50 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. StockNews.com cut shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.42.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock opened at $54.13 on Wednesday. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 12-month low of $46.15 and a 12-month high of $57.49. The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.95.

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 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 analysts’ expectations of $344.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NorthWestern Energy Group

In related news, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total value of $384,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $873,591.20. This represents a 30.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $37,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,270.16. The trade was a 6.04 % 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NWE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 6.3% in 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. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 21.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 600.3% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 49,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 42,479 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 79.4% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 7,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 9.9% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 52,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,636,000 after purchasing an additional 4,738 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.