NorthWestern Co. (NASDAQ:NWE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 6th, 2023

NorthWestern Co. (NASDAQ:NWE – Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.29.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NWE. Mizuho cut their price objective on NorthWestern from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on NorthWestern from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 14th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on NorthWestern from $46.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. StockNews.com started coverage on NorthWestern in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded NorthWestern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $57.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 1,200 shares of NorthWestern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.65, for a total value of $70,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,125 shares in the company, valued at $593,831.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NorthWestern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in NorthWestern by 0.8% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,852,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,506,000 after buying an additional 74,439 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NorthWestern by 5.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,978,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,602,000 after buying an additional 291,066 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 49.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,079,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690,016 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,582,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,291,000 after purchasing an additional 97,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,499,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,167,000 after purchasing an additional 46,229 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NorthWestern Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NWE stock opened at $54.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.43. NorthWestern has a one year low of $48.68 and a one year high of $61.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

NorthWestern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.71%. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.33%.

About NorthWestern

(Get Free Report

NorthWestern Corporation, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, provides electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and various industrial customers. The company operates through three segments: Electric Utility Operations; Natural Gas Utility Operations; and Other. 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.