NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.30.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded NorthWestern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $75.50 in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded NorthWestern to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of NorthWestern in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NorthWestern from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th.

NorthWestern Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWE opened at $69.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. NorthWestern has a twelve month low of $50.54 and a twelve month high of $75.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $70.96 and its 200-day moving average is $68.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.34.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.02. NorthWestern had a return on equity of 7.80% and a net margin of 10.21%.The company had revenue of $516.60 million for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. NorthWestern’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that NorthWestern will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio is 98.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in NorthWestern by 263.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in NorthWestern by 142.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in NorthWestern by 3,221.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in NorthWestern by 1,220.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. bought a new position in NorthWestern in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

About NorthWestern

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ: NWE) is a regulated energy company that delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Through its Electric Operations and Gas Operations segments, the company operates an extensive network of distribution lines, substations and pipelines. NorthWestern’s services encompass the delivery of power sourced from regional transmission systems and the procurement, storage and distribution of natural gas to end users.

Electric delivery services include the management of distribution infrastructure, customer metering and system reliability programs.