Short Interest in NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Increases By 43.8%

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,404,543 shares, a growth of 43.8% from the November 30th total of 1,672,194 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 612,478 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Based on an average daily volume of 612,478 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

NorthWestern Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:NWE traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $64.54. 406,027 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 467,906. The company has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.35. NorthWestern has a one year low of $50.46 and a one year high of $69.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.04. NorthWestern had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 13.82%.The business had revenue of $386.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $380.96 million.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NWE shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NorthWestern in a research note on Monday. Barclays upgraded shares of NorthWestern to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of NorthWestern to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

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.