NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Price Target Raised to $56.00

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) had its price target upped by Mizuho from $52.00 to $56.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

NWE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America started coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a buy rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered NorthWestern Energy Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $55.38.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:NWE opened at $55.11 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $54.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.52. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 52 week low of $46.15 and a 52 week high of $57.48.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.05. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The company had revenue of $319.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. NorthWestern Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is 80.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $35,720.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $559,593.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern Energy Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 0.3% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 76,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,917,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.0% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

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.