NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) Stock Rated “Buy” in New Coverage at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on NWE. Barclays decreased their price objective on NorthWestern from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded NorthWestern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on NorthWestern from $76.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Four equities research 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.92.

NorthWestern Stock Up 1.2%

NWE stock opened at $74.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.30. NorthWestern has a fifty-two week low of $58.57 and a fifty-two week high of $76.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.58 and a 200-day moving average of $70.75.

NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE) last released 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, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.22 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. NorthWestern’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NorthWestern will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. NorthWestern’s payout ratio is 96.75%.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NorthWestern by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of NorthWestern by 5.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in NorthWestern by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 277,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,878,000 after buying an additional 58,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in NorthWestern in the 2nd quarter valued at $137,000. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NorthWestern

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, is an energy utility that provides electricity and natural gas services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company’s operations include the generation, purchase, transmission, and distribution of electricity, as well as the distribution and supply of natural gas.

NorthWestern Energy serves customers primarily in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Its electric generation portfolio includes a combination of company-owned facilities and purchased power from sources such as hydroelectric, coal, natural gas, and renewable energy.