NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Barclays from $56.00 to $57.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 3.56% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho upped their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised NorthWestern Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.50 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.64.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Up 1.2 %

NWE stock opened at $55.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.48. NorthWestern Energy Group has a one year low of $46.15 and a one year high of $57.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $53.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.87.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $345.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $344.06 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 7.95%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total value of $37,499.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,270.16. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total transaction of $384,430.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,816 shares in the company, valued at $873,591.20. This represents a 30.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,027,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,467,000 after purchasing an additional 61,216 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 21.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 600.3% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 49,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,479,000 after acquiring an additional 42,479 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 79.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after acquiring an additional 7,247 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 52,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,636,000 after purchasing an additional 4,738 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Energy Group Company Profile

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc provides electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and various industrial customers. It generates, purchases, transmits, and distributes electricity; and produces, purchases, stores, transmits, and distributes natural gas, as well as owns municipal franchises to provide natural gas service in the communities.