NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.20.

NWE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays raised their target price on NorthWestern from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NorthWestern from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on NorthWestern from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

NorthWestern Stock Performance

NWE stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $67.25. 431,461 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 509,519. NorthWestern has a one year low of $50.46 and a one year high of $72.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $68.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). NorthWestern had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 7.62%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. NorthWestern’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. NorthWestern has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.680-3.830 EPS.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. NorthWestern’s payout ratio is presently 89.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern during the third quarter worth approximately $1,100,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,565,000. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,145,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,754,000 after purchasing an additional 30,471 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 402.7% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 18,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 14,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in NorthWestern by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 488,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,654,000 after purchasing an additional 34,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

About NorthWestern

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ: NWE) is a regulated energy company that delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Through its Electric Operations and Gas Operations segments, the company operates an extensive network of distribution lines, substations and pipelines. NorthWestern’s services encompass the delivery of power sourced from regional transmission systems and the procurement, storage and distribution of natural gas to end users.

Electric delivery services include the management of distribution infrastructure, customer metering and system reliability programs.