NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) to a Hold; the stock's analyst mix is three Buys, two Holds and one Sell with a consensus target price of $68.30.
• Shares opened at $71.19 and are trading near their 12‑month high of $75.18, with a market cap of $4.38 billion and a trailing P/E of 24.21.
• NorthWestern reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter (missing estimates by $0.02) with revenue up 10.9% year‑over‑year, and analysts forecast about 3.75 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NWE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NorthWestern from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of NorthWestern from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.30.

NorthWestern Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:NWE opened at $71.19 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.36. NorthWestern has a 12 month low of $50.46 and a 12 month high of $75.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.32.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $414.26 million during the quarter. NorthWestern had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 11.24%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that NorthWestern will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NWE. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 263.3% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 436 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 3,221.4% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 465 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 142.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 455 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in NorthWestern by 1,220.0% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in NorthWestern in the third quarter worth about $37,000. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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