Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 34,090 Shares of NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE - Free Report) by 8.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 371,970 shares of the company's stock after selling 34,090 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.61% of NorthWestern Energy Group worth $18,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 76,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,917,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 4.1% during the first quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,528 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group by 2.0% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,028 shares of the company's stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at NorthWestern Energy Group

In other NorthWestern Energy Group news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 688 shares of NorthWestern Energy Group 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 sale, the director now directly owns 10,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $559,593.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NWE stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $56.93. The company had a trading volume of 418,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 330,596. The firm has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.54. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $45.97 and a one year high of $57.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.52.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.05. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 14.21% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The company had revenue of $319.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. NorthWestern Energy Group's payout ratio is 80.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on NorthWestern Energy Group from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on NorthWestern Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.88.

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.