UBS Group AG Purchases 585,768 Shares of NorthWestern Corporation $NWE

Key Points

• UBS Group AG boosted its stake in NorthWestern by 479.9% in Q4, buying 585,768 shares to hold 707,822 shares (about 1.15% of the company) valued at roughly $45.7 million; institutional investors own ~96.07% of NWE.
• NorthWestern beat Q1 earnings estimates with EPS of $1.31 (vs. $1.29 consensus) on revenue of $516.6 million, a 6.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 (annualized $2.68, ~3.8% yield), payable June 30 with an ex-dividend date of June 15 and a dividend payout ratio near 98.5%.

UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE - Free Report) by 479.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 707,822 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 585,768 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned 1.15% of NorthWestern worth $45,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 0.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,968,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $174,002,000 after purchasing an additional 16,602 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in NorthWestern by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,594,485 shares of the company's stock worth $133,097,000 after buying an additional 12,530 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in NorthWestern by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,338,278 shares of the company's stock worth $78,436,000 after buying an additional 4,261 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in NorthWestern by 65.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,222,376 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,708,000 after acquiring an additional 484,266 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in NorthWestern by 69.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,147,269 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,241,000 after acquiring an additional 471,125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company's stock.

NorthWestern Trading Up 0.1%

NorthWestern stock opened at $71.08 on Thursday. NorthWestern Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.46 and a 52-week high of $75.18. The company has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.03.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $516.60 million for the quarter. NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 7.80%. NorthWestern's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. Analysts predict that NorthWestern Corporation will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. NorthWestern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NorthWestern from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NorthWestern to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of NorthWestern in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.30.

NorthWestern 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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