Sei Investments Co. Acquires 14,427 Shares of NorthWestern Corporation $NWE

Key Points

• Sei Investments increased its NorthWestern stake by 34.4% in the first quarter, purchasing 14,427 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 56,426 shares valued at approximately $3.72 million. Institutional investors collectively own 96.07% of the company.
• NorthWestern reported quarterly earnings of $0.50 per share, beating estimates of $0.42, while revenue rose 14.6% year over year to $392.6 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 3.8%. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $73.30.

Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE - Free Report) by 34.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,426 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,427 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.09% of NorthWestern worth $3,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in NorthWestern by 479.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 707,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,683,000 after acquiring an additional 585,768 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 11,652.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 67,928 shares of the company's stock worth $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 67,350 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $720,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 69.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 225,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,847,000 after purchasing an additional 92,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern during the second quarter valued at approximately $230,000. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NorthWestern Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:NWE opened at $70.27 on Friday. NorthWestern Corporation has a one year low of $54.89 and a one year high of $75.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. NorthWestern had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 10.13%.The business had revenue of $392.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $386.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that NorthWestern Corporation will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. NorthWestern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NWE. Barclays raised their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded NorthWestern to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered NorthWestern from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.30.

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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