NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) Declares $0.65 Quarterly Dividend

NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 29th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of 0.65 per share on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th.

NorthWestern Energy Group has increased its dividend by an average of 2.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 19 years. NorthWestern Energy Group has a dividend payout ratio of 70.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect NorthWestern Energy Group to earn $3.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 70.5%.

NorthWestern Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE NWE opened at $50.48 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97 and a beta of 0.43. NorthWestern Energy Group has a 12-month low of $45.97 and a 12-month high of $60.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.51.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $475.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.60 million. NorthWestern Energy Group had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that NorthWestern Energy Group will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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