NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.08 EPS

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.08, Zacks reports. NorthWestern had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 10.13%.The firm had revenue of $392.60 million during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. NorthWestern’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

NorthWestern Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWE traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $69.26. The company had a trading volume of 35,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,313. 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 $52.24 and a twelve month high of $75.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.34.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on NWE. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of NorthWestern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of NorthWestern in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NorthWestern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NorthWestern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in NorthWestern by 5,851.3% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,005,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,920,000 after purchasing an additional 988,984 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in NorthWestern by 1,214.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 920,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,413,000 after purchasing an additional 850,517 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in NorthWestern in the fourth quarter valued at $52,439,000. AQR Arbitrage LLC increased its position in shares of NorthWestern by 2,434.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Arbitrage LLC now owns 607,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,178,000 after buying an additional 583,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern in the fourth quarter valued at $32,238,000. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.