NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• NorthWestern Corporation has an average analyst rating of “Hold” from six covering analysts, with a mix of one sell, two hold, and three buy ratings. The average 12-month price target is $70.10.
• The stock recently traded at $72.91, near its 52-week high of $75.18, and was down 0.4% in the session highlighted. NorthWestern also has a market cap of about $4.48 billion and a dividend yield of 3.7%.
• In its latest quarterly results, NorthWestern reported EPS of $1.31, topping estimates, while revenue rose 6.6% year over year to $516.6 million. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.67, though its payout ratio is high at 98.53%.

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.10.

NWE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of NorthWestern in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of NorthWestern from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of NorthWestern in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NorthWestern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th.

NorthWestern Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:NWE opened at $72.91 on Wednesday. NorthWestern has a 52-week low of $51.31 and a 52-week high of $75.18. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $70.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.23. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.34.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that NorthWestern will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. NorthWestern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.53%.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in NorthWestern by 4.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,981 shares of the company's stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in NorthWestern by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 803,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,981,000 after buying an additional 36,747 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 29.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 76,104 shares of the company's stock worth $5,015,000 after purchasing an additional 17,200 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NorthWestern by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the company's stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in NorthWestern by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 75,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,965,000 after purchasing an additional 14,478 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company's stock.

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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