Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 30,832 Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its stake in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE - Free Report) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,094,714 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,832 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.79% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $62,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NWE. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $703,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 83,822 shares of the company's stock worth $4,796,000 after buying an additional 17,983 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 26,608 shares of the company's stock worth $1,523,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,189 shares of the company's stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. StockNews.com downgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho boosted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.00.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Up 0.9 %

NWE stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $57.27. 173,011 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 342,817. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.47. The firm's 50-day moving average is $55.47 and its 200-day moving average is $53.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.30. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.15 and a 12 month high of $57.49.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 15.15%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.