NorthWestern Corporation $NWE Shares Sold by Systematic Financial Management LP

Key Points

• Systematic Financial Management LP trimmed its NorthWestern stake by 2.4% in the first quarter, selling 27,688 shares and leaving it with 1,132,065 shares valued at about $74.65 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 96.07% of NorthWestern shares held by institutions and hedge funds; several other firms added to or initiated positions during the period.
• NorthWestern reported better-than-expected earnings of $1.31 per share, and analysts currently have an average Hold rating with a $70.10 target price, while the stock recently traded near $72.55 and pays a 3.7% dividend yield.

Systematic Financial Management LP reduced its stake in shares of NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,132,065 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,688 shares during the period. NorthWestern accounts for approximately 1.7% of Systematic Financial Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Systematic Financial Management LP owned 1.84% of NorthWestern worth $74,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NWE. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in NorthWestern during the 1st quarter worth $5,708,000. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in NorthWestern during the first quarter worth about $220,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in NorthWestern by 13.5% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 154,776 shares of the company's stock worth $8,957,000 after buying an additional 18,454 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern during the second quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in NorthWestern by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 23,123 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,186,000 after buying an additional 3,775 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NWE. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded NorthWestern from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NorthWestern from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised NorthWestern to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of NorthWestern in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.10.

NorthWestern Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ NWE opened at $72.55 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $71.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.34. NorthWestern Corporation has a 52 week low of $51.92 and a 52 week high of $75.18.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.02. NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 7.80%. The business had revenue of $516.60 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Corporation will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. NorthWestern's dividend payout ratio is currently 98.53%.

NorthWestern Company Profile

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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