Meritage Portfolio Management Cuts Stock Position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 91.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,894 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,246 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 133.8% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 7,664 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 33.3% in the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 17.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 116,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,598,000 after buying an additional 17,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 5.0% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim upgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.71.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE NWE opened at $49.55 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.43. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.97 and a twelve month high of $60.56.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $475.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $471.60 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.36% and a net margin of 13.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.25%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 80.50%.

NorthWestern Energy Group 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.