NorthWestern Corporation $NWE Shares Sold by Aventail Capital Group LP

Key Points

• Aventail Capital Group LP trimmed its stake in NorthWestern (NASDAQ: NWE) by 36.8%, selling 64,292 shares and holding 110,292 shares valued at about $6.46 million at quarter-end.
• NorthWestern reported quarterly EPS of $1.17, missing estimates by $0.02, with revenue up 10.9% year-over-year and set FY2026 guidance of 3.680–3.830 EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 (annualized $2.68) representing a 3.9% yield and an 89.8% payout ratio; the stock trades near $68.42 with a market cap of roughly $4.2 billion and a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" (target $60.20).

Aventail Capital Group LP trimmed its position in NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE - Free Report) by 36.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,292 shares of the company's stock after selling 64,292 shares during the period. Aventail Capital Group LP owned about 0.18% of NorthWestern worth $6,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in NorthWestern by 0.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,968,816 shares of the company's stock worth $174,002,000 after acquiring an additional 16,602 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,594,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,097,000 after acquiring an additional 12,530 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,577,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,938,000 after acquiring an additional 7,684 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,338,278 shares of the company's stock worth $78,436,000 after purchasing an additional 4,261 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 65.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,222,376 shares of the company's stock worth $62,708,000 after purchasing an additional 484,266 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NorthWestern Stock Up 1.7%

NWE opened at $68.42 on Friday. NorthWestern Corporation has a 1 year low of $50.46 and a 1 year high of $72.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.33.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.02). NorthWestern had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 7.62%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. NorthWestern's revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. NorthWestern has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.680-3.830 EPS.

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. NorthWestern's dividend payout ratio is 89.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on NorthWestern from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on NorthWestern from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of NorthWestern in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, NorthWestern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.20.

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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