NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.65

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 29th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of 0.65 per share on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th.

NorthWestern Energy Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 19 consecutive years. NorthWestern Energy Group has a dividend payout ratio of 70.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect NorthWestern Energy Group to earn $3.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 70.5%.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NWE traded up $0.93 during trading on Monday, reaching $50.48. 436,020 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 397,100. The company’s 50 day moving average is $49.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 52 week low of $45.97 and a 52 week high of $60.29.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.30). NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.36% and a net margin of 13.62%. The firm had revenue of $475.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. NorthWestern Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on NWE. Guggenheim upgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.