Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $9.66 Million Stock Position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. $NWE

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 39.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 164,895 shares of the company’s stock after selling 105,729 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $9,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the second quarter worth approximately $39,428,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 65.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,222,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,708,000 after purchasing an additional 484,266 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 113.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 429,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,033,000 after purchasing an additional 228,350 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 11.7% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,118,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,387,000 after purchasing an additional 117,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 512.4% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 136,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,013,000 after purchasing an additional 114,391 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NWE stock opened at $68.79 on Friday. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.46 and a fifty-two week high of $71.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.85, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.34.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 7.40%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. NorthWestern Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.680-3.830 EPS. Analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This is a positive change from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 74.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on NWE. Wells Fargo & Company lowered NorthWestern Energy Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $58.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Barclays upped their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.40.

NorthWestern Energy Group Company Profile

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE: NWE) is a regulated energy utility company based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The company delivers electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers across a service territory that spans Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, NorthWestern Corporation, it operates a diversified portfolio of generation assets, including thermal, hydroelectric and renewable facilities, as well as an extensive network of transmission and distribution lines.

NorthWestern Energy’s primary business activities encompass the delivery, transmission and sale of electric and natural gas services.