NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Shareholders to Get $0.67 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• NorthWestern declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, payable December 1 to shareholders of record November 17. The $2.68 annualized dividend yields about 3.3%.
• The dividend appears covered by earnings: the current payout ratio is 69.6%, and analysts expect next year’s EPS of $3.96 to support a projected payout ratio of 67.7%.
• Quarterly EPS was $0.58, below the $0.73 consensus and down from $0.79 a year earlier, though revenue rose 9.5% year over year to $427 million. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $77.25.

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share on Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th.

NorthWestern has a dividend payout ratio of 69.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect NorthWestern to earn $3.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.7%.

NorthWestern Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:NWE traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $82.01. 157,111 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 515,318. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.83. NorthWestern has a 52-week low of $60.83 and a 52-week high of $84.18. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $72.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.61. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.29.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The firm had revenue of $427.00 million for the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that NorthWestern will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on NWE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on NorthWestern from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of NorthWestern from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NorthWestern from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.25.

NorthWestern Company Profile

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, is a regulated electric and natural gas utility headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The company generates, purchases, transmits and distributes electricity, and provides natural gas distribution and related services to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers.

NorthWestern Energy serves customers primarily in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Its operations include electric generation facilities and transmission and distribution networks, as well as natural gas pipelines and distribution systems.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.