NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) Raised to “Buy” at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) was upgraded by investment analysts at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $57.50 target price on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 5.95% from the company’s current price.

NWE has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com downgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised NorthWestern Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho raised their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.50.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:NWE opened at $54.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.74. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 1 year low of $46.15 and a 1 year high of $57.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.48.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last released 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 return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 15.15%. The firm had revenue of $345.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $344.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $37,499.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $583,270.16. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of NorthWestern Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total value of $384,430.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $873,591.20. This trade represents a 30.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NorthWestern Energy Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWE. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 58.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 75,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,758,000 after buying an additional 27,601 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 41.9% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 2,229 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,027,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,467,000 after buying an additional 61,216 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 21.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Finally, First Washington CORP increased its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.9% in the second quarter. First Washington CORP now owns 113,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,699,000 after buying an additional 2,151 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.