NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Trading Up 4.7% – Time to Buy?

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)’s share price traded up 4.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $53.30 and last traded at $53.19. 71,569 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 344,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NWE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NorthWestern Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Up 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $54.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.40.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.05). NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 7.95%. The business had revenue of $345.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $344.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.01%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.08%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC raised its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 140.2% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 992 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 17,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 3,691 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 6,409 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 4.4% in the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 19,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $956,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 849,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,521,000 after acquiring an additional 12,091 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.