Raymond James & Associates Raises Stock Holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE - Free Report) by 188.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 335,634 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 219,145 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.55% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $17,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 131,383 shares of the company's stock worth $6,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 38,784 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,864,000 after buying an additional 12,718 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the second quarter valued at about $5,689,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 23.8% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 101,280 shares of the company's stock worth $4,868,000 after buying an additional 19,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 84.6% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 9,294 shares of the company's stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 4,259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on NWE. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.25.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NWE traded down $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $50.36. The company had a trading volume of 409,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,087. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.97 and a twelve month high of $61.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $48.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.19. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The company had revenue of $356.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $443.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from NorthWestern Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. NorthWestern Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.75%.

About NorthWestern Energy Group

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc provides electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and various industrial customers. It generates, purchases, transmits, and distributes electricity; and produces, purchases, stores, transmits, and distributes natural gas, as well as owns municipal franchises to provide natural gas service in the communities.