NorthWestern (NASDAQ:NWE – Get Rating) announced its results on Thursday. The company reported EPS of $1.09 for the quarter, missing Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $1.17 per ($0.08), Briefing.com reports. NorthWestern had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 13.61%. The company posted revenue of $394.50 million for the quarter, versus analyst estimates of $427.13 million. In the same quarter a year earlier, the company posted EPS of $1.26. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% from the same quarter last year.

NASDAQ: NWE traded at $2.10 in Friday’s midday session, hitting $56.69. 510,652 shares of the company were traded, against an average volume of 405,413. NorthWestern has a one-year low of $53.66 and a one-year high of $69.63. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a growth price-earnings ratio of 6.89 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s fifty-day simple moving average is $59.77 and its two-hundred-day simple moving average is $57.99. The company has a debt ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.15.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 31. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 15 received a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a dividend of $2.52 on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. This is a positive change from NorthWestern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 14. NorthWestern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.00%.

Separately, director Britt E. Ide sold 2,700 shares of the company in a transaction dated Friday, February 25. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.85, for a total transaction of $161,595.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available via this link. Additionally, director Jan Robert Horsfall sold 2,430 shares of the company in a trade dated Wednesday, February 23. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.48, for a total transaction of $142,106.40. The disclosure of this sale can be found here. In the past ninety days, insiders have sold 8,130 shares of the company worth $476,471. 1.17% of the shares are held by insiders.

A number of institutional investors have recently changed their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in NorthWestern by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,778,356 shares of the company worth $501,772,000 after purchasing an additional 622,801 shares last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in NorthWestern by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 104,403 shares of the company worth $5,968,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its stake in NorthWestern by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 98,881 shares of the company worth $5,702,000 after buying an additional 6,820 shares last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in NorthWestern by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 326,983 shares of the company worth $18,690,000 after buying an additional 12,834 shares last quarter. Finally, Toroso Investments LLC acquired a new stake in NorthWestern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $221,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.25% of the company’s shares.

Several research analysts recently commented on the title. Zacks Investment Research moved NorthWestern shares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a Friday, March 25 report. KeyCorp cut its price target on NorthWestern shares from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a Wednesday, April 20 research note. Sidoti cut NorthWestern shares from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a price target of $63.00 for the company. in a research note from Wednesday, April 6. Mizuho launched a hedge on NorthWestern shares in a research note on Thursday, March 10. They issued a “neutral” rating and a price target of $62.00 for the company. Finally, Barclays downgraded NorthWestern shares from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised its price target for the company from $57.00 to $62.00 in a report of research from Tuesday, April 19. One research analyst rated the stock with a sell rating, four gave the stock a hold rating and two gave the stock a buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.57.

About the North West (Get a rating)

NorthWestern Corporation, doing business as NorthWestern Energy, supplies electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. The Company operates through the electricity and natural gas segments. It produces, purchases, transports and distributes electricity; and produces, purchases, stores, transports and distributes natural gas, as well as owns municipal franchises to provide natural gas service in communities.

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