NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Guggenheim

Guggenheim upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.42.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE:NWE opened at $54.13 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $53.47 and its 200 day moving average is $53.99. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 12 month low of $46.15 and a 12 month high of $57.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $345.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $344.06 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 15.15%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.08%.

Insider Transactions at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $37,499.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,888 shares in the company, valued at $583,270.16. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total value of $384,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $873,591.20. This represents a 30.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern Energy Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1,218.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 60,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,488,000 after acquiring an additional 56,330 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $631,000. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 11.8% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,070,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,250,000 after purchasing an additional 113,265 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 600.3% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 49,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after buying an additional 42,479 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 5,622.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 9,670 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About NorthWestern Energy Group

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.