NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on NWE. Bank of America began coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.88.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE NWE opened at $56.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 12-month low of $45.97 and a 12-month high of $57.48.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $319.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.40 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. NorthWestern Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $35,720.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $559,593.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NWE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,257,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $345,049,000 after buying an additional 187,619 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group in the first quarter worth $6,550,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 429.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 105,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,353,000 after acquiring an additional 85,235 shares during the last quarter. 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.