Federated Hermes Inc. Raises Position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 451.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,371 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 37,963 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.08% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $2,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. boosted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. now owns 12,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 5.0% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 35,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NWE. Guggenheim raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NorthWestern Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.71.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:NWE opened at $49.55 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.43. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.97 and a 12-month high of $60.56.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.30). NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.36%. The company had revenue of $475.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. NorthWestern Energy Group’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.25%. This is a boost from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.50%.

NorthWestern Energy Group Profile

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.