Foundry Partners LLC Acquires 3,245 Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Foundry Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 60.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,585 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,245 shares during the quarter. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NWE. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 131,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 38,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 12,718 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 101,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,868,000 after acquiring an additional 19,481 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 84.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 9,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 4,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 140,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,162,000 after acquiring an additional 3,411 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

NWE opened at $50.40 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.97 and a 1 year high of $60.56. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 0.43.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.19. NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 13.64%. The business had revenue of $356.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $443.27 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. This is a positive change from NorthWestern Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. NorthWestern Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

About NorthWestern Energy Group

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.