Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $1.01 Million Stock Holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:NWE) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,898 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NorthWestern Energy Group were worth $1,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of NorthWestern Energy Group in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in NorthWestern Energy Group during the third quarter worth $45,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in NorthWestern Energy Group by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 883 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC lifted its stake in NorthWestern Energy Group by 150.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of NorthWestern Energy Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho boosted their price target on NorthWestern Energy Group from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised NorthWestern Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $57.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered NorthWestern Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays upgraded NorthWestern Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $53.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.50.

Insider Transactions at NorthWestern Energy Group

In related news, Director Britt E. Ide sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.57, for a total transaction of $37,499.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,270.16. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Anthony Thomas Clark sold 7,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.95, for a total transaction of $384,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $873,591.20. This represents a 30.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

NorthWestern Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:NWE opened at $54.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.66, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.48. NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.15 and a 1-year high of $57.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.05). NorthWestern Energy Group had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 15.15%. The firm had revenue of $345.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $344.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

NorthWestern Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. NorthWestern Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 70.08%.

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.