UBS Group AG Grows Position in NorthWestern Corporation $NWE

UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) by 479.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 707,822 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 585,768 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in NorthWestern were worth $45,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NWE. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NorthWestern in the first quarter worth about $5,708,000. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of NorthWestern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $220,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in NorthWestern by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 154,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,957,000 after acquiring an additional 18,454 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in NorthWestern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $230,000. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in NorthWestern by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 23,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,775 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Trading Up 0.1%

NWE stock opened at $71.08 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.03. NorthWestern Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.46 and a fifty-two week high of $75.18. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.02. NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 7.80%. The company had revenue of $516.60 million for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. NorthWestern’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Corporation will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NWE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NorthWestern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of NorthWestern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of NorthWestern in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on NorthWestern from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.30.

NorthWestern 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.