Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Raises Position in NorthWestern Corporation $NWE

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital sharply increased its NorthWestern stake by 4,774.6% in the first quarter, buying 211,705 additional shares to own 216,139 shares valued at approximately $14.3 million.
• NorthWestern reported quarterly EPS of $0.50, beating estimates of $0.42, while revenue rose 14.6% year over year to $392.6 million. Shares opened at $69.73, down 1.2%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, representing a 3.8% yield and $2.68 annualized payout. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $70.10.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE - Free Report) by 4,774.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 216,139 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 211,705 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.35% of NorthWestern worth $14,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NWE. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern by 263.3% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 436 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 142.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 455 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in NorthWestern by 3,221.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 465 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in NorthWestern during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in NorthWestern by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 845 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NorthWestern Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NorthWestern stock opened at $69.73 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $71.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.80. NorthWestern Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $52.24 and a fifty-two week high of $75.18. The firm has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $392.60 million for the quarter. NorthWestern had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 10.13%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NorthWestern Corporation will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. NorthWestern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen raised NorthWestern to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of NorthWestern in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on NorthWestern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded NorthWestern from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.10.

About NorthWestern

NorthWestern Corporation NASDAQ: NWE is a regulated energy company that delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Through its Electric Operations and Gas Operations segments, the company operates an extensive network of distribution lines, substations and pipelines. NorthWestern's services encompass the delivery of power sourced from regional transmission systems and the procurement, storage and distribution of natural gas to end users.

Electric delivery services include the management of distribution infrastructure, customer metering and system reliability programs.

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