NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Receives $64.10 Average Target Price from Analysts

NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $64.10.

Several analysts recently issued reports on NWE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of NorthWestern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NWE. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in NorthWestern during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,708,000. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $220,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 154,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,957,000 after buying an additional 18,454 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NorthWestern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 23,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after buying an additional 3,775 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Stock Up 1.2%

NWE opened at $70.53 on Monday. NorthWestern has a twelve month low of $50.46 and a twelve month high of $72.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.25. The company has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.32.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.19 by ($0.02). NorthWestern had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 11.24%.The company had revenue of $414.26 million for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 91.16%.

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.