Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Position in NorthWestern Corporation $NWE

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its stake in NorthWestern by 0.4%, selling 28,324 shares and still owning 6,667,340 shares — about 10.86% of the company worth roughly $430.31 million.
• NorthWestern reported quarterly EPS of $1.31 (beating estimates by $0.02) with revenue of $516.6M, up 6.6% year-over-year, and analysts expect about 3.75 EPS for the fiscal year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 (annualized $2.68) for a yield of 3.8%, though its payout ratio is high at 98.53%, and the analyst consensus is a Hold with an average price target of $68.30.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its holdings in NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,667,340 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,324 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.86% of NorthWestern worth $430,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 263.3% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 436 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 3,221.4% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 465 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 1,220.0% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in NorthWestern in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 299.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 803 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 602 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of NorthWestern from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of NorthWestern from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $54.00 price objective on shares of NorthWestern in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Three 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $68.30.

NorthWestern Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:NWE opened at $71.08 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.03. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.35. NorthWestern Corporation has a 12-month low of $50.46 and a 12-month high of $75.18.

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

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. NorthWestern's 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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