NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• NorthWestern has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from six analysts, split evenly between buy and hold recommendations, with an average 12-month price target of $73.30.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.50, exceeding estimates of $0.42, while revenue rose 14.6% year over year to $392.6 million.
• NorthWestern declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67, equivalent to $2.68 annually and a 3.7% yield; institutional investors own 96.07% of the stock.

Shares of NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.30.

Several analysts have issued reports on NWE shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded NorthWestern from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NorthWestern to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern by 479.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 707,822 shares of the company's stock worth $45,683,000 after purchasing an additional 585,768 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in NorthWestern by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 75,303 shares of the company's stock worth $4,965,000 after buying an additional 14,478 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 4,774.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 216,139 shares of the company's stock worth $14,252,000 after buying an additional 211,705 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position 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 valued at $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 67,350 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,340,000. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NorthWestern Stock Up 2.6%

NWE opened at $72.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 26.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.34. The stock's fifty day moving average is $70.84 and its 200-day moving average is $69.89. NorthWestern has a one year low of $54.89 and a one year high of $75.18.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $392.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.22 million. NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that NorthWestern will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. NorthWestern's payout ratio is 96.75%.

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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