NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $68.92, but opened at $71.87. NorthWestern shares last traded at $74.0550, with a volume of 218,344 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on NorthWestern from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays reduced their target price on NorthWestern from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NorthWestern from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.70.

NorthWestern Trading Up 0.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.39. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.30.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $392.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.22 million. NorthWestern had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 10.13%.The business’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio is 96.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 129.2% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 418.2% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $137,000. Mint Tower Capital Management B.V. acquired a new position in NorthWestern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $156,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in NorthWestern by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

About NorthWestern

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.