NorthWestern Corporation (NWE) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 17th

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share on Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th.

NorthWestern has a payout ratio of 69.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect NorthWestern to earn $3.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.7%.

NorthWestern Stock Up 0.0%

NorthWestern stock opened at $82.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.29. NorthWestern has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $84.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $72.78 and a 200-day moving average of $70.67.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.15). NorthWestern had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 10.13%. The company had revenue of $427.00 million for the quarter. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded NorthWestern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on NorthWestern in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on NorthWestern from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on NorthWestern from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised NorthWestern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.25.

About NorthWestern

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, is a regulated electric and natural gas utility headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The company generates, purchases, transmits and distributes electricity, and provides natural gas distribution and related services to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers.

NorthWestern Energy serves customers primarily in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Its operations include electric generation facilities and transmission and distribution networks, as well as natural gas pipelines and distribution systems.