NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.30.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of NorthWestern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NorthWestern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th.

NorthWestern Stock Down 0.4%

NWE opened at $70.61 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.21. NorthWestern has a fifty-two week low of $50.46 and a fifty-two week high of $75.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.70.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.02. NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 7.80%. The business had revenue of $516.60 million for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that NorthWestern will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. NorthWestern’s payout ratio is presently 98.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NorthWestern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in NorthWestern by 263.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in NorthWestern by 3,221.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in NorthWestern by 142.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NorthWestern by 1,220.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new position in NorthWestern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.