NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Given New $67.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its price target on NorthWestern to $67 from $64 while maintaining a "neutral" rating, implying about a 5.02% downside from the prior close; the analyst consensus remains a "Hold" with a $68.30 target.
• Shares traded at $70.54 on the day; NorthWestern posted a slight quarterly EPS miss ($1.17 vs. $1.19) despite 10.9% revenue growth, with a market cap of $4.34 billion and a P/E of 24.01.
• Institutional investors materially increased positions in the quarter (notably Balyasny, Millennium, UBS, Adage and Norges Bank), and institutions now own about 96.07% of the stock.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 5.02% from the company's previous close.

NWE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of NorthWestern in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of NorthWestern in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays upped their target price on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised NorthWestern from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $75.50 in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NorthWestern from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.30.

NorthWestern Stock Performance

Shares of NWE stock traded down $1.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $70.54. 73,965 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 569,812. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $68.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.32. NorthWestern has a fifty-two week low of $50.46 and a fifty-two week high of $75.18.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $414.26 million during the quarter. NorthWestern had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 7.62%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Analysts predict that NorthWestern will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of NorthWestern by 5,851.3% in the 4th 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 boosted its position in shares of NorthWestern by 1,214.4% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 920,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,413,000 after purchasing an additional 850,517 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,439,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,274,000. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted 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 valued at $45,683,000 after purchasing an additional 585,768 shares in the last quarter. 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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