NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock.

NWE has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NorthWestern Energy Group has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $54.88.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

NWE stock opened at $55.94 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. NorthWestern Energy Group has a one year low of $45.97 and a one year high of $55.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.11.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The company had revenue of $319.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.65%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $35,720.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at $559,593.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NWE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $34,257,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 968,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,264,000 after acquiring an additional 208,326 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,780,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,049,000 after acquiring an additional 187,619 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the first quarter worth $6,550,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 36.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 396,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,840,000 after acquiring an additional 105,845 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.