Barclays Raises NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Price Target to $53.00

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) had its price target upped by Barclays from $50.00 to $53.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the stock.

NWE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised NorthWestern Energy Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $53.43.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock traded down $0.03 on Tuesday, reaching $52.15. 80,427 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 333,825. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. NorthWestern Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $45.97 and a fifty-two week high of $55.47.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.05. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 14.21%. The firm had revenue of $319.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $35,720.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $559,593.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth about $34,257,000. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,168,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,341,000 after purchasing an additional 562,548 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 968,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,264,000 after purchasing an additional 208,326 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,780,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,049,000 after purchasing an additional 187,619 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 39.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 469,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,892,000 after purchasing an additional 133,486 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

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.