NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.65

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of 0.65 per share on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th.

NorthWestern Energy Group has raised its dividend by an average of 2.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 20 years. NorthWestern Energy Group has a dividend payout ratio of 71.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect NorthWestern Energy Group to earn $3.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 70.7%.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE NWE traded up $0.36 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $53.91. 443,481 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 344,318. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $55.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.46. NorthWestern Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $46.15 and a fifty-two week high of $57.48.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.05). NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The business had revenue of $345.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $344.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total transaction of $35,720.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at $559,593.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

About NorthWestern Energy Group

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.