ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $220,000 in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 67,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,852,000 after acquiring an additional 17,364 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in NorthWestern Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $242,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 157.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 9,509 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $35,720.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $559,593.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWE has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho upped their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America initiated coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NorthWestern Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.75.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NWE opened at $56.46 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.46. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $46.15 and a one year high of $57.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $319.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.40 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.61%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.50%.

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.