Aristotle Capital Boston LLC Sells 4,892 Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Aristotle Capital Boston LLC lowered its position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE - Free Report) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,508 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,892 shares during the quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC owned 0.10% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $3,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $401,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 22,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 204.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,327,000 after purchasing an additional 74,278 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $262,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 886,066 shares of the company's stock worth $47,369,000 after acquiring an additional 135,611 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on NWE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $57.50 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Guggenheim raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern Energy Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 702 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.32, for a total value of $38,132.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,021 shares in the company, valued at $598,660.72. The trade was a 5.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

NWE stock traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $56.24. The stock had a trading volume of 132,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,975. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.83. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.52 and a 52 week high of $59.89.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. NorthWestern Energy Group's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.63 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, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.69%. NorthWestern Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.75%.

NorthWestern Energy Group Company Profile

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.