Franklin Resources Inc. Has $80.27 Million Position in NorthWestern Co. (NASDAQ:NWE)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in NorthWestern Co. (NASDAQ:NWE – Get Rating) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,352,626 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,710 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in NorthWestern were worth $80,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in NorthWestern by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 39,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,366,000 after acquiring an additional 7,041 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 92,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,460,000 after purchasing an additional 27,539 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 33,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,012,000 after purchasing an additional 10,914 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,367,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,177,000 after purchasing an additional 62,009 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,246,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,375,000 after purchasing an additional 621,722 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NWE shares. StockNews.com started coverage on NorthWestern in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. TheStreet raised NorthWestern from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Monday, March 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on NorthWestern in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.50 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.56.

NorthWestern Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NWE opened at $56.50 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $59.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.88. NorthWestern Co. has a twelve month low of $48.68 and a twelve month high of $62.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.65, for a total value of $70,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,125 shares in the company, valued at $593,831.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other NorthWestern news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.65, for a total value of $70,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $593,831.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jan Robert Horsfall sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.26, for a total value of $160,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,512.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About NorthWestern

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NorthWestern Corp. engages in generating and distributing electricity and natural gas. It operates through the following segments: Electric, Gas, and Other. The Electric segment includes generation, transmission, and distribution of electric utility business as a vertically integrated generation transmission and distribution utility.