NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of NorthWestern Corporation (NASDAQ:NWE) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.30.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NWE. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised NorthWestern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $56.00 to $75.50 in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Barclays upped their price target on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of NorthWestern in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NorthWestern from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st.

NorthWestern Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWE opened at $69.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.53. NorthWestern has a 1 year low of $50.54 and a 1 year high of $75.18.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $516.60 million during the quarter. NorthWestern had a return on equity of 7.80% and a net margin of 10.21%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. Analysts forecast that NorthWestern will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NWE. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern by 5,851.3% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,005,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,920,000 after buying an additional 988,984 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern by 1,214.4% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 920,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,413,000 after buying an additional 850,517 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in NorthWestern during the 4th quarter worth about $52,439,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NorthWestern during the 4th quarter worth about $50,274,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in NorthWestern during the 1st quarter worth about $43,340,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

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.