Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.17 Million in NorthWestern Corporation $NWE

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 17,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,174,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in NorthWestern by 263.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 3,221.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 142.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of NorthWestern by 34.3% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NorthWestern Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWE opened at $71.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.86. NorthWestern Corporation has a 1-year low of $51.27 and a 1-year high of $75.18.

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

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. NorthWestern’s payout ratio is currently 98.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NorthWestern from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays increased their target price on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded NorthWestern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded NorthWestern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.