NorthWestern (NWE) Price Target Cut to $56.00 by Analysts at Credit Suisse Group

NorthWestern (NYSE:NWE) had its target price lowered by Credit Suisse Group from $60.00 to $56.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays set a $62.00 price objective on shares of NorthWestern and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, November 17th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of NorthWestern from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 25th. Finally, ValuEngine downgraded shares of NorthWestern from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, November 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. NorthWestern presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $62.60.

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NYSE:NWE opened at $65.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.80. NorthWestern has a 12 month low of $50.46 and a 12 month high of $67.80.

NorthWestern (NYSE:NWE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $308.82 million for the quarter. NorthWestern had a return on equity of 9.80% and a net margin of 16.52%. Analysts predict that NorthWestern will post 3.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from NorthWestern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.90%.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 1,504,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,411,000 after buying an additional 91,298 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 279,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,602,000 after buying an additional 14,954 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 204,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,178,000 after buying an additional 128,742 shares during the period. Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan acquired a new stake in shares of NorthWestern during the fourth quarter worth about $710,000. Finally, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY boosted its stake in shares of NorthWestern by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY now owns 28,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,720,000 after buying an additional 12,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.11% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Company Profile

NorthWestern Corporation, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, provides electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company operates through Electric Operations and Natural Gas Operations segments. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity; and produces, stores, transmits, and distributes natural gas, as well as owns municipal franchises to provide natural gas service in the communities.

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