Lesa Sroufe & Co Acquires New Stake in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Lesa Sroufe & Co acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 37,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,164,000. NorthWestern Energy Group accounts for 2.2% of Lesa Sroufe & Co's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Lesa Sroufe & Co owned about 0.06% of NorthWestern Energy Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,006 shares of the company's stock worth $1,016,000 after buying an additional 1,466 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 214,973 shares of the company's stock worth $11,492,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 37,714 shares of the company's stock worth $2,016,000 after buying an additional 1,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 174,015 shares of the company's stock worth $9,303,000 after buying an additional 2,653 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NWE shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 price objective (down from $57.50) on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.00.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE NWE opened at $51.14 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $55.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.73. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.52 and a fifty-two week high of $59.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

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%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. NorthWestern Energy Group's revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group's payout ratio is 68.75%.

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.

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