Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 560,771 NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 560,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,978,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.91% of NorthWestern Energy Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NWE. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 883 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 51,180 shares of the company's stock worth $2,736,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 13,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,729 shares of the company's stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,754 shares of the company's stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 702 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.32, for a total transaction of $38,132.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,021 shares of the company's stock, valued at $598,660.72. This represents a 5.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on NWE. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $57.50 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Guggenheim raised NorthWestern Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.92.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock traded down $0.26 on Wednesday, reaching $58.52. The stock had a trading volume of 44,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 378,927. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $55.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.60. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.52 and a 1 year high of $59.59.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from NorthWestern Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. NorthWestern Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.33%.

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.