NorthWestern Corporation $NWE Stock Position Lessened by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 325,190 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,282 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.53% of NorthWestern worth $22,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in NorthWestern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,340,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in NorthWestern by 4,774.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 216,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,252,000 after acquiring an additional 211,705 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in NorthWestern by 69.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 225,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,847,000 after acquiring an additional 92,134 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 11,652.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 67,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 67,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 26.8% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 277,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,878,000 after acquiring an additional 58,577 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NWE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of NorthWestern from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of NorthWestern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $70.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, October 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NorthWestern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of NorthWestern from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of NorthWestern in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.25.

NorthWestern Trading Down 0.8%

NorthWestern stock traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $84.91. The company had a trading volume of 979,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 712,012. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.19. The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.29. NorthWestern Corporation has a 12-month low of $62.48 and a 12-month high of $86.34.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). NorthWestern had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 7.58%. The company had revenue of $427.00 million for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that NorthWestern Corporation will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. NorthWestern’s payout ratio is presently 101.13%.

NorthWestern Profile

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc., doing business as NorthWestern Energy, is a regulated utility that provides electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Its operations include generating and purchasing energy, as well as transmitting and distributing power and delivering natural gas. The company serves customers in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Its electric and natural gas operations vary by service area, with utility infrastructure supporting communities across the region.