NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Price Target Raised to $70.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) had its price target upped by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 1.56% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on NWE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen raised NorthWestern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded NorthWestern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.30.

NorthWestern Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ NWE traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.92. 48,961 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 522,462. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $71.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.80. NorthWestern has a 12 month low of $52.24 and a 12 month high of $75.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.08. NorthWestern had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The company had revenue of $392.60 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NWE. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in NorthWestern by 263.3% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 436 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in NorthWestern by 142.0% during the 4th 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 lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 3,221.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 465 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of NorthWestern during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of NorthWestern by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 845 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

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.