NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Receives $60.00 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.00.

Several brokerages have recently commented on NWE. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 price target (down from $57.50) on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock opened at $55.07 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.35. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 1 year low of $50.43 and a 1 year high of $59.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 14.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 71.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after buying an additional 4,389 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 86,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,642,000 after purchasing an additional 17,336 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth $361,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 133,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,116,000 after purchasing an additional 5,650 shares in the last quarter. 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.