NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest dropped 20.6% in April to 2,149,838 shares (about 3.5% of the stock) with a short-interest ratio of roughly 3.5 days.
• NorthWestern beat Q1 EPS estimates ($1.31 vs. $1.29) and reported revenue up 6.6% to $516.6M, but GAAP net income fell year‑over‑year due to lower retail volumes and higher operating and merger-related costs; FY‑2026 guidance was largely in line with Street estimates.
• The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 (annualized yield ~3.7%, payout ratio ~91%), while analysts left a consensus rating of "Hold" with a $68.30 target and several institutional investors materially increased their stakes.

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,149,838 shares, a decline of 20.6% from the March 31st total of 2,707,001 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 615,575 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

More NorthWestern News

Here are the key news stories impacting NorthWestern this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reported an EPS beat and revenue growth — NorthWestern posted $1.31 EPS vs. $1.29 consensus and revenue of $516.6M, up 6.6% year‑over‑year, which likely supported the stock. MarketBeat Earnings Summary
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend declared — Board approved a $0.67 quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~3.7%), attractive to income investors and supportive of the share price. (Record/ex‑dividend dates announced with the payment schedule.)
• Neutral Sentiment: FY‑2026 EPS guidance largely in line with Street — Company updated guidance to $3.680–$3.830 (midpoint ~3.755) versus consensus ~3.75, a negligible difference that keeps expectations steady. Press Release / Guidance
• Neutral Sentiment: Management commentary and call available — The earnings call/transcript and slide deck are posted for details on drivers and capital plans; investors should review for color on regulatory outlook and merger‑related items. Earnings Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP net income declined — BusinessWire reported net income of $63.5M ($1.03 diluted) vs. $76.9M ($1.25) a year earlier; management cited lower retail volumes and higher operating, administrative and merger‑related costs, which are headwinds to margins. BusinessWire Press Release

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company 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 note on Saturday, April 25th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of NorthWestern from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of NorthWestern in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.30.

NorthWestern Stock Performance

NASDAQ NWE traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $72.34. The company had a trading volume of 429,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,272. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72. NorthWestern has a 1-year low of $50.46 and a 1-year high of $75.18. The company has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $69.13 and a 200-day moving average of $66.74.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.02. NorthWestern had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 7.62%. The business had revenue of $516.60 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. NorthWestern's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NorthWestern will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. NorthWestern's dividend payout ratio is presently 91.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 5,851.3% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,005,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,920,000 after buying an additional 988,984 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 1,214.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 920,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,413,000 after buying an additional 850,517 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,439,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,274,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 479.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 707,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,683,000 after buying an additional 585,768 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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