IFM Investors Pty Ltd Takes $435,000 Position in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 138.1% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 499.5% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com upgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.71.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

NorthWestern Energy Group stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $49.55. 438,152 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 247,117. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $45.97 and a one year high of $60.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.43.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $475.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $471.60 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.36% and a net margin of 13.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.50%.

NorthWestern Energy Group 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.