NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $76.78 and last traded at $76.8740, with a volume of 16,808 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $76.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NWE shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of NorthWestern from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NorthWestern in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NorthWestern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NorthWestern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.92.

NorthWestern Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.97.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.08. NorthWestern had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 10.13%. The business had revenue of $392.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Corporation will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 26.8% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 277,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,878,000 after acquiring an additional 58,577 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in NorthWestern by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 75,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,965,000 after purchasing an additional 14,478 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in NorthWestern by 4,774.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 216,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,252,000 after purchasing an additional 211,705 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in NorthWestern by 34.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 56,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,721,000 after purchasing an additional 14,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in NorthWestern by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 76,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,015,000 after purchasing an additional 17,200 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NorthWestern Company Profile

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, is a regulated electric and natural gas utility headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The company generates, purchases, transmits and distributes electricity, and provides natural gas distribution and related services to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers.

NorthWestern Energy serves customers primarily in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Its operations include electric generation facilities and transmission and distribution networks, as well as natural gas pipelines and distribution systems.