NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Given New $76.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its price target on NorthWestern from $73 to $76 while keeping a neutral rating, implying about 8.06% upside from the current share price.
• NorthWestern shares were down 0.6% and opened at $70.33, with the stock trading near its 50-day and 200-day moving averages and below its 52-week high of $75.18.
• The company recently reported Q1 earnings of $1.31 per share, edging estimates and marking 6.6% revenue growth year over year, while analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating and $70.10 target price.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $73.00 to $76.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.06% from the company's current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of NorthWestern in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of NorthWestern in a research report 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 NorthWestern from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.10.

NorthWestern Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NWE stock opened at $70.33 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 market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $70.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.99. NorthWestern has a twelve month low of $51.31 and a twelve month high of $75.18.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.02. The firm 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%. NorthWestern's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that NorthWestern will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in NorthWestern by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 879 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 18,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 34.3% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 845 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in NorthWestern by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 6,763 shares of the company's stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by 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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