Virtu Financial LLC Has $1.79 Million Holdings in NorthWestern Corporation $NWE

Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) by 531.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,797 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,397 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in NorthWestern were worth $1,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NWE. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in NorthWestern by 0.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,968,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,002,000 after acquiring an additional 16,602 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in NorthWestern by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,637,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,238,000 after purchasing an additional 14,751 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in NorthWestern by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,436,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,728,000 after purchasing an additional 98,472 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in NorthWestern by 65.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in NorthWestern by 69.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,147,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,241,000 after purchasing an additional 471,125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Price Performance

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. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.34. NorthWestern Corporation has a 12 month low of $50.54 and a 12 month high of $75.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $70.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.53.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.02. NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.21% and a return on equity of 7.80%. The company had revenue of $516.60 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. 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 is 98.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NWE shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of NorthWestern in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NorthWestern from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised NorthWestern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.30.

NorthWestern Company Profile

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.