Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $5.86 Million Stake in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC cut its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,637 shares of the company’s stock after selling 516 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.18% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $5,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,027,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,467,000 after acquiring an additional 61,216 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 21.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 600.3% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 49,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,479,000 after acquiring an additional 42,479 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 79.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 7,247 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Energy Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock opened at $54.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $53.56 and its 200 day moving average is $53.80. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.15 and a 1 year high of $57.49.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $345.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $344.06 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 15.15%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total transaction of $384,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $873,591.20. This trade represents a 30.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total value of $37,499.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,888 shares in the company, valued at $583,270.16. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on NWE. Barclays raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.50 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.50.

About NorthWestern Energy Group

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc provides electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and various industrial customers. It generates, purchases, transmits, and distributes electricity; and produces, purchases, stores, transmits, and distributes natural gas, as well as owns municipal franchises to provide natural gas service in the communities.