NorthWestern Corporation $NWE Stock Position Reduced by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) by 17.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,173 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,221 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of NorthWestern worth $2,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NWE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,023,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,472,000 after buying an additional 5,815 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 803,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,981,000 after buying an additional 36,747 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in NorthWestern during the 1st quarter worth about $43,340,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in NorthWestern by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 277,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,878,000 after acquiring an additional 58,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in NorthWestern by 69.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 225,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,847,000 after acquiring an additional 92,134 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NorthWestern Trading Up 0.6%

NWE opened at $77.59 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.58. NorthWestern Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.57 and a 12 month high of $77.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.01, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.30.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $392.60 million for 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%. NorthWestern’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that NorthWestern Corporation will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NWE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of NorthWestern in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NorthWestern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.92.

NorthWestern 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.