Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 55.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,876 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,887 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group were worth $508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 429.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 105,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,353,000 after purchasing an additional 85,235 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 10,185 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1,218.2% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 60,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 56,330 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth about $555,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 600.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 49,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 42,479 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on NWE. StockNews.com cut shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of 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 started coverage on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NorthWestern Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.00.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE NWE opened at $55.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.47. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $46.15 and a one year high of $57.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.98.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $345.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $344.06 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 7.95%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.08%.

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.