NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Stock Has Average Target Price of $72.70

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.70.

NWE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered NorthWestern from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th.

NorthWestern Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:NWE opened at $69.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $69.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.23. NorthWestern has a 1 year low of $56.97 and a 1 year high of $75.18.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $392.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $386.22 million. NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. Analysts predict that NorthWestern will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWE. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in NorthWestern by 5.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 26.8% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 277,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,878,000 after purchasing an additional 58,577 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern during the second quarter worth about $137,000. AlphaGrep UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern during the second quarter worth about $368,000. Finally, NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd increased its position in shares of NorthWestern by 10.0% during the second quarter. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd now owns 27,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,497 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Company Profile

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, is an energy utility that provides electricity and natural gas services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company’s operations include the generation, purchase, transmission, and distribution of electricity, as well as the distribution and supply of natural gas.

NorthWestern Energy serves customers primarily in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Its electric generation portfolio includes a combination of company-owned facilities and purchased power from sources such as hydroelectric, coal, natural gas, and renewable energy.