American Century Companies Inc. Sells 578,634 Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,288,228 shares of the company’s stock after selling 578,634 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $175,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the third quarter worth $631,000. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position 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 buying an additional 113,265 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $401,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the third quarter worth $703,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 204.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 110,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,327,000 after buying an additional 74,278 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE NWE opened at $55.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.48 and a twelve month high of $57.49.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. This is an increase from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 72.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.25.

Insider Transactions at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 702 shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.32, for a total value of $38,132.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $598,660.72. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% 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.