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

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) had its price target hoisted by analysts at Barclays from $56.00 to $57.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.61% from the company’s current price.

NWE has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.50 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.42.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NWE opened at $53.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.91. NorthWestern Energy Group has a twelve month low of $46.15 and a twelve month high of $57.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $345.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at NorthWestern Energy Group

In related news, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total transaction of $384,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $873,591.20. This represents a 30.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $37,499.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $583,270.16. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 6.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,027,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,467,000 after purchasing an additional 61,216 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 21.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 42,479 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 79.4% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 7,247 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 9.9% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 52,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,636,000 after purchasing an additional 4,738 shares during the period. 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.