Is the business good?
How good a business is NWE?
NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. earns 3.9% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so growth costs more than it returns.
3.9%
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 5.1 points below what the capital costs: growth destroys value
- Operating margin
- 19%
Operating margin · Utilities - Regulated Electric median 22% · 12 months to Q2 2026
- Cash conversion
- −1.12×
Cash conversion · −0.57× a year ago · some of the reported profit has not turned into cash yet
- Share count, year on year
- +0.47%
Share count, year on year · flat: no meaningful dilution
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2021 | 20% |
| FY2022 | 18% |
| FY2023 | 21% |
| FY2024 | 21% |
| FY2025 | 20% |
Details›
- Operating margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 19%
- Net margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 10%
- Free cash flow margin
- −11%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $1.69B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- −$192M
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $171M
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 3.9%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion from the cash flow statement.
Utilities - Regulated Electric
Ranks #36 of 37 by Smart Score