NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management decreased its position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE - Free Report) by 91.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,894 shares of the company's stock after selling 50,246 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. grew its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. now owns 12,650 shares of the company's stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 5.0% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY grew its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 33.3% in the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim upgraded 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.71.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:NWE traded down $0.36 on Friday, hitting $49.55. The stock had a trading volume of 438,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,117. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.50. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.97 and a 1-year high of $60.56.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $475.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.60 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.36%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.25%. This is an increase from NorthWestern Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. NorthWestern Energy Group's payout ratio is 80.50%.

NorthWestern Energy Group Profile

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.