GW&K Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in NorthWestern Corporation $NWE

GW&K Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 593,888 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,377 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in NorthWestern were worth $38,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in NorthWestern by 263.3% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in NorthWestern by 142.0% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in NorthWestern by 3,221.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in NorthWestern by 1,220.0% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in NorthWestern during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Trading Up 6.2%

NorthWestern stock opened at $69.72 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.70. NorthWestern Corporation has a one year low of $50.46 and a one year high of $75.18. The stock has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.34.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Corporation will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen raised NorthWestern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised NorthWestern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NorthWestern from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.30.

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.