NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $73.92

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $73.92.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NWE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NorthWestern in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NorthWestern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th.

NorthWestern Stock Up 1.4%

NorthWestern stock opened at $77.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $70.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.03. NorthWestern has a 1-year low of $58.57 and a 1-year high of $77.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.08. NorthWestern had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 10.13%. The firm had revenue of $392.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that NorthWestern will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors 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 yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of NorthWestern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,340,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in NorthWestern by 4,774.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 216,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,252,000 after purchasing an additional 211,705 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in NorthWestern by 69.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 225,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,847,000 after purchasing an additional 92,134 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in NorthWestern by 11,652.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 67,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,479,000 after buying an additional 67,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in NorthWestern by 26.8% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 277,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,878,000 after buying an additional 58,577 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NorthWestern

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.