NorthWestern (NWE) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. On the natural gas side, NorthWestern provides supply procurement, pipeline operations, storage management and appliance safety inspections. The company also offers energy efficiency programs and demand-side management solutions designed to help customers optimize consumption and lower costs.

Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, NorthWestern serves communities across South Dakota, Nebraska and Montana. The company’s roots trace back to early 20th-century utility consolidations in the upper Midwest and Rocky Mountain regions. In the early 2000s, NorthWestern expanded its footprint through the acquisition of regional gas and electric delivery operations, establishing a diversified service territory that spans rural and urban markets.

NorthWestern is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Trevor Nohle, who oversees the company’s strategic planning, regulatory relations and operational performance. Under his leadership, the company has emphasized grid modernization, renewable energy integration and enhanced customer experience initiatives. The board of directors and executive team continue to focus on maintaining reliable service while advancing sustainability and safety across all service areas.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $70.93 to $72.44
• 50-Day Range: $63.80 to $73.36
• 52-Week Range: $50.46 to $75.18
• Volume: 256,213 shs
• Average Volume: 551,053 shs
• Market Capitalization: $4.37 billion
• P/E Ratio: 26.10
• Dividend Yield: 3.78%
• Price Target: $68.30
• Consensus Rating: Hold

NorthWestern Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

NorthWestern scored higher than 73% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 47th out of 92 stocks in the utilities sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.2 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

NorthWestern has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.33, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 3 buy ratings, 2 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for NorthWestern is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

NorthWestern has been the subject of 5 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 6.40%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for NorthWestern are expected to grow by 6.40% in the coming year, from $3.75 to $3.99 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of NorthWestern is 26.10, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 38.56.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of NorthWestern is 26.10, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Utilities sector average P/E ratio of about 22.31.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

NorthWestern has a PEG Ratio of 3.83. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

NorthWestern has a P/B Ratio of 1.51. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.53% of the float of NorthWestern has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

NorthWestern has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.49, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in NorthWestern has recently decreased by 20.58%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Leadership

NorthWestern is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 3.70%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

NorthWestern has been increasing its dividend for 21 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of NorthWestern is 98.53%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, NorthWestern will have a dividend payout ratio of 67.17% next year. This indicates that NorthWestern will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.84

News Sentiment

NorthWestern has a news sentiment score of 0.84. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.74 average news sentiment score of Utilities companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 20 news articles for NorthWestern this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, NorthWestern insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

0.57% of the stock of NorthWestern is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

96.07% of the stock of NorthWestern is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

NWE Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have NWE shares performed this year?

NorthWestern's stock was trading at $64.54 at the start of the year. Since then, NWE shares have increased by 10.0% and is now trading at $70.99.

How were NorthWestern's earnings last quarter?

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April, 29th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.02. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year.
Read the conference call transcript.

Who are NorthWestern's major shareholders?

Top institutional shareholders of NorthWestern include Bank of New York Mellon Corp (1.23%), Principal Financial Group Inc. (0.37%), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS (0.21%) and First PREMIER Bank (0.17%). Insiders that own company stock include John D Hines, Bobbi L Schroeppel, Bobbi L Schroeppel, Anthony Thomas Clark and Britt E Ide.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of NorthWestern?

Shares of NWE stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of NorthWestern own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that NorthWestern investors own include Tesla (TSLA), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Meta Platforms (META), NVIDIA (NVDA), Netflix (NFLX), Visa (V) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Company Calendar

• Record date for 3/31 Dividend: 3/13/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 3/31 Dividend: 3/13/2026
• Dividend Payable: 3/31/2026
• Last Earnings: 4/29/2026
• Today: 5/05/2026
• Record date for 6/30 Dividend: 6/15/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 6/30 Dividend: 6/15/2026
• Dividend Payable: 6/30/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Utilities
• Industry: UTIL - ELEC PWR
• Sub-Industry: Utilities
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:NWE
• Previous Symbol: NASDAQ:NWE
• CIK: 1993004
• Web: N/A
• Phone: (605) 978-2900
• Fax: N/A
• Employees: 1,667
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for NorthWestern: $68.30
• High Price Target: $75.50
• Low Price Target: $54.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: -3.8%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.33
• Research Coverage: 6 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $2.72
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 26.10
• Forward P/E Ratio: 18.93
• P/E Growth: 3.83
• Net Income: $181.09 million
• Net Margins: 10.21%
• Pretax Margin: 10.52%
• Return on Equity: 7.80%
• Return on Assets: 2.69%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 1.10
• Current Ratio: 0.70
• Quick Ratio: 0.52

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $1.64 billion
• Price / Sales: 2.66
• Cash Flow: $7.56 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 9.39
• Book Value: $46.99 per share
• Price / Book: 1.51

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 61,508,000
• Free Float: 61,157,000
• Market Cap: $4.37 billion
• Optionable: N/A
• Beta: 0.35