Capital expenditures of $116.1 million in 2026Q1 consistently outpace operating cash flow, necessitating ongoing reliance on external financing to maintain dividend payments.
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 | Dec'17 | Dec'16 | Dec'15 | Dec'14 | Dec'13 | Dec'12 | Dec'11 | Dec'10 | Dec'09 | Dec'08 | Dec'07 | Dec'06 | Dec'05 | Dec'04 | Dec'03 | Dec'02 | Dec'01 | Dec'00 | Dec'99 | Dec'98 | Dec'97 | Dec'96 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | 400.48M | 394.45M | 406.74M | 489.23M | 307.24M | 219.98M | 352.15M | 296.7M | 381.99M | 323.61M | 289.01M | 339.82M | 250.04M | 193.72M | 251.19M | 233.76M | 218.92M | 116.8M | 198.33M | 201.96M | 169.9M | 150.51M | -9.77M | -93.86M | 34.04M | 127M | 76.72M | 71.7M | 69.9M | 62.7M | 60.9M |
| Operating CF Growth % | -7.59% | -3.02% | -16.86% | 59.23% | 39.67% | -37.53% | 18.69% | -22.33% | 18.04% | 11.97% | -14.95% | 35.91% | 29.07% | -22.88% | 7.46% | 6.78% | 87.43% | -41.11% | -1.8% | 18.87% | 12.88% | 1641.32% | 89.6% | -375.71% | -73.19% | 65.53% | 7.01% | 2.58% | 11.48% | 2.96% | 72.03% |
| Operating CF / Revenue % | 24.4% | 24.49% | 26.87% | 34.4% | 20.79% | 16.03% | 29.38% | 23.59% | 32.05% | 24.79% | 22.99% | 27.98% | 20.75% | 16.78% | 23.47% | 20.92% | 19.71% | 10.23% | 15.73% | 16.83% | 15% | 12.91% | -4.74% | -9.14% | 1.71% | 3% | 1.08% | 2.39% | 5.89% | 6.83% | 17.7% |
| Net Income | 167.58M | 181.09M | 224.11M | 194.13M | 183.01M | 186.84M | 155.22M | 202.1M | 196.96M | 162.7M | 164.17M | 151.21M | 120.69M | 93.98M | 98.41M | 92.56M | 77.38M | 73.42M | 67.6M | 53.19M | 37.9M | 59.47M | -6.94M | -113.72M | -863.94M | 44.53M | 50.6M | 44.7M | 27.3M | 23.7M | 23.4M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 126.1M | 4.42M | 227.63M | 210.47M | 5.32M | 187.42M | 0 | 5.86M | 4.64M | 4.79M | 2.12M | 2.26M | 5.03M | 112.83M | 106.04M | 100.93M | 91.77M | 89.04M | 85.07M | 82.42M | 75.31M | 0 | 70.25M | 70.25M | 98.57M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Deferred Taxes | 8.19M | 7.12M | -8.97M | 6.58M | -8.99M | 525K | -7.57M | -13.86M | -13.19M | 12.36M | -8.18M | 33.89M | -9.61M | 54.62M | 51.89M | 64.06M | 48.78M | 47.01M | 42.59M | 34.99M | 26.71M | 40.75M | -3.94M | 10.33M | 35.64M | -48.53M | -9.49M | -9.5M | 1.5M | 4.4M | 5.8M |
| Other Non-Cash Items | 152.92M | 270.47M | -9.88M | -12.16M | 181.31M | -5.84M | 177.7M | 165.8M | 170.4M | 160.02M | 154.73M | 136M | -1.52M | -3.01M | -52.37M | 90.68M | -6.56M | -2.11M | -641K | -508K | 13.92M | 36.32M | -3.98M | -71.94M | 30.6M | -37.35M | 33.62M | 43.4M | 48.6M | 31.2M | 20.5M |
| Working Capital Changes | -61.08M | -75.63M | -30.87M | 85.02M | -58.89M | -154.31M | 22.66M | -71.2M | 15.49M | -21.84M | -30.56M | 11.38M | 14.78M | -66.39M | 20.76M | -25.89M | 4.1M | -94.06M | -1.61M | 35.69M | 12.88M | 13.98M | -39.33M | -73.38M | -24.95M | 168.35M | 2M | -6.9M | -7.5M | 3.4M | 11.2M |
| Capital Expenditures | -548.41M | -524.46M | -549.24M | -566.89M | -515.14M | -434.33M | -405.76M | -316M | -283.97M | -276.44M | -287.9M | -283.7M | -1.21B | -230.45M | -219.23M | -188.73M | -228.37M | -189.36M | -124.56M | -256.5M | -101.05M | -80.88M | -17.72M | -70.74M | -654.3M | -190.86M | -179.11M | -207.5M | -409.7M | -39.1M | -169.1M |
| CapEx / Revenue % | 33.41% | 32.56% | 36.28% | 39.86% | 34.86% | 31.65% | 33.85% | 25.12% | 23.82% | 21.17% | 22.9% | 23.36% | 100.17% | 19.96% | 20.48% | 16.89% | 20.56% | 16.58% | 9.88% | 21.37% | 8.92% | 6.94% | 8.61% | 6.88% | 32.85% | 4.5% | 2.51% | 6.91% | 34.51% | 4.26% | 49.16% |
| CapEx / D&A | 4.35x | 118.76x | 2.41x | 2.69x | 96.81x | 2.32x | - | 53.95x | 61.13x | 57.66x | 135.99x | 125.64x | 239.81x | 2.04x | 2.07x | 1.87x | 2.49x | 2.13x | 1.46x | 3.11x | 1.34x | - | 0.25x | 1.01x | 6.64x | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| CapEx Coverage (OCF/CapEx) | 0.73x | 0.75x | 0.74x | 0.86x | 0.60x | 0.51x | 0.87x | 0.94x | 1.35x | 1.17x | 1.00x | 1.20x | 0.21x | 0.84x | 1.15x | 1.24x | 0.96x | 0.62x | 1.59x | 0.79x | 1.68x | 1.86x | -0.55x | -1.33x | 0.05x | 0.67x | 0.43x | 0.35x | 0.17x | 1.60x | 0.36x |
| Cash from Investing | -590M | -570.63M | -554.46M | -570.81M | -516.86M | -435.83M | -405.8M | -316.2M | -304.9M | -276.06M | -286.55M | -384.06M | -1.21B | -295.35M | -322.21M | -188.52M | -240.68M | -189.03M | -124.36M | -256.5M | -68.65M | -72.55M | 7.61M | 4.93M | -654.3M | -190.86M | -179.11M | -207.5M | -409.7M | -44.7M | -169.1M |
| Acquisitions | -35.94M | -35.94M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -100K | -18.5M | 379K | 1.35M | -146.67M | -903.57M | -68.67M | 0 | 0 | -12.37M | 0 | 0 | -141.26M | 0 | 7.5M | 0 | -72.93M | -574.32M | -157.04M | -152.76M | -209.1M | -318.1M | -42.2M | -2M |
| Purchase of Investments | -4.46M | -10.24M | 0 | -3.92M | -1.72M | -1.5M | -42K | -135K | -2.5M | 0 | 0 | 0 | -18.17M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -118.8M | 0 | 72.93M | 2.2M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sale of Investments | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 135K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16.11M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 123.48M | 75K | 72.93M | 31.56M | 7.05M | 5.75M | 34.2M | 0 | 36.6M | 0 |
| Other Investing | -1.19M | 0 | -5.22M | 0 | -1.72M | -1.5M | 0 | -100K | 71K | 379K | 1.35M | 46.32M | -14.82M | -64.9M | -102.98M | 209K | 69K | 326K | 200K | 1.84M | 32.4M | -3.85M | 25.26M | 2.74M | 2.2M | 0 | 0 | 0 | -69M | 0 | -107.4M |
| Cash from Financing | 137.07M | 177.9M | 151.55M | 84.31M | 213.32M | 217.52M | 58.68M | 16.2M | -73.8M | -44.16M | -9.37M | 35.86M | 960.72M | 108.37M | 74.91M | -45.54M | 23.65M | 65.28M | -75.44M | 65.38M | -102.01M | -135.28M | -84.62M | 77.56M | 631.04M | 25.78M | 164.31M | 134.6M | 356.4M | -40.4M | 140.4M |
| Dividends Paid | -162.12M | -161.39M | -158.59M | -154.05M | -140.06M | -128.48M | -120.35M | -115.13M | -109.2M | -101.27M | -95.77M | -90.06M | -65.02M | -57.68M | -54.25M | -51.91M | -49M | -48.19M | -49.83M | -47.29M | -44.09M | -35.63M | 0 | 0 | -38.08M | -29.96M | -26.31M | -24.4M | -19.1M | -16.9M | -16.3M |
| Dividend Payout Ratio % | - | 89.12% | 70.76% | 79.35% | 76.53% | 68.77% | 77.54% | 56.96% | 55.44% | 62.24% | 58.33% | 59.56% | 53.87% | 61.38% | 55.12% | 56.08% | 63.32% | 65.63% | 73.72% | 88.9% | 116.34% | 59.92% | - | - | - | 67.27% | 53.1% | 54.59% | 69.96% | 71.31% | 69.66% |
| Debt Issuance (Net) | 0 | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | -1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | -1000K | -1000K | -1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | 1000K | -500K | 1000K |
| Stock Issued | 0 | 709K | 1.19M | 74.68M | 277.57M | 196.95M | 0 | 1.43M | 47.05M | 54.75M | 0 | 56.65M | 399.21M | 56.83M | 28.48M | 153K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 131K | 0 | 0 | 198.9M | 171.7M | 21K | 1.7M | 256.4M | 0 | 191.8M |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.39M | 0 | 0 | 0 | -561K | -664K | -814K | -1.04M | -429K | 0 | -185K | -741K | -78.71M | -896K | -4.31M | -5.57M | 0 | -9.72M | -32.64M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -20.4M | 0 |
| Other Financing | 341.19M | -4.5M | -1.05M | -4.33M | -1.19M | -909K | -2.58M | -1.11M | -91K | -16.38M | 0 | 44.57M | -5.25M | 49.23M | -943K | -1.13M | -8.02M | -10.82M | -1.55M | 67.1M | -16.06M | 78K | -11.55M | -27.94M | -915K | -64.59M | -64.32M | -50.8M | -32.3M | -2.6M | -82.4M |
| Net Change in Cash | -52.46M | 1.72M | 3.83M | 2.72M | 3.7M | 1.67M | 5.03M | -3.2M | 3.28M | 3.39M | -6.9M | -8.38M | 3.81M | 6.74M | 3.89M | -306K | 1.89M | -6.95M | -1.48M | 10.84M | -761K | -57.32M | -86.77M | -11.37M | 10.78M | -38.07M | 61.92M | -1.2M | 16.6M | -22.5M | 32.2M |
| Exchange Rate Effect | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -100K | 0 |
| Cash at Beginning | 30.74M | 29.02M | 25.19M | 22.46M | 18.76M | 17.1M | 12.07M | 15.3M | 12.03M | 5.08M | 11.98M | 20.36M | 16.56M | 9.82M | 5.93M | 6.23M | 4.34M | 11.29M | 12.77M | 1.93M | 2.69M | 58.01M | 103.83M | 26.55M | 34.79M | 91.6M | 29.68M | 30.9M | 14.3M | 36.8M | 4.6M |
| Cash at End | 27.61M | 30.74M | 29.02M | 25.19M | 22.46M | 18.76M | 17.1M | 12.1M | 15.31M | 8.47M | 5.08M | 11.98M | 20.36M | 16.56M | 9.82M | 5.93M | 6.23M | 4.34M | 11.29M | 12.77M | 1.93M | 691K | 17.06M | 15.18M | 45.57M | 53.53M | 91.6M | 29.7M | 30.9M | 14.3M | 36.8M |
| Free Cash Flow | -147.94M | -130M | -142.5M | -77.66M | -207.9M | -214.35M | -53.61M | -19.3M | 98.02M | 47.17M | 1.11M | 56.11M | -956.91M | -36.74M | 31.96M | 45.03M | -9.45M | -72.56M | 73.76M | -54.53M | 68.86M | 69.63M | -27.49M | -164.6M | -620.26M | -63.86M | -102.38M | -135.8M | -339.8M | 23.6M | -108.2M |
| FCF Growth % | -10.27% | 8.77% | -83.5% | 62.65% | 3.01% | -299.81% | -177.79% | -119.69% | 107.8% | 4145.72% | -98.02% | 105.86% | -2504.69% | -214.95% | -29.02% | 576.33% | 86.97% | -198.36% | 235.26% | -179.2% | -1.12% | 353.32% | 83.3% | 73.46% | -871.34% | 37.63% | 24.61% | 60.04% | -1539.83% | 121.81% | 13.72% |
| FCF Margin % | -9.01% | -8.07% | -9.41% | -5.46% | -14.07% | -15.62% | -4.47% | -1.53% | 8.22% | 3.61% | 0.09% | 4.62% | -79.42% | -3.18% | 2.99% | 4.03% | -0.85% | -6.35% | 5.85% | -4.54% | 6.08% | 5.97% | -13.35% | -16.02% | -31.15% | -1.51% | -1.44% | -4.52% | -28.62% | 2.57% | -31.45% |
| FCF / Net Income % | -88.28% | -71.79% | -63.59% | -40% | -113.6% | -114.72% | -34.54% | -9.55% | 49.77% | 28.99% | 0.68% | 37.11% | -792.89% | -39.09% | 32.48% | 48.65% | -12.22% | -98.82% | 109.12% | -102.53% | 181.68% | 117.1% | 395.85% | 127.92% | 71.79% | -143.39% | -206.62% | -303.8% | -1244.69% | 99.58% | -462.39% |
Regulatory lag and CAPEX
According to the provided quarterly data, NorthWestern Energy consistently records negative free cash flow, with capital expenditures frequently exceeding $150 million per quarter, as the company prioritizes aggressive rate base expansion over immediate cash generation to support long-term grid modernization and new generation capacity requirements.
The persistent gap between operating cash flow and capital spending is a structural feature of the company's growth strategy rather than a sign of operational distress. Investors should monitor whether the current pace of investment in assets like the Yellowstone County Generating Station will be met with timely rate relief from the MPSC to justify the ongoing cash burn.
As reported in the financial statements, the company's recurring free cash flow deficit necessitates frequent reliance on external financing, with net long-term debt issuance patterns suggesting that management is actively utilizing credit markets to bridge the funding gap created by its heavy infrastructure investment cycle.
The company's ability to maintain its capital program appears contingent on continued access to debt markets at reasonable interest rates. Any tightening in credit conditions or a shift in the regulatory environment could complicate the financing of these essential utility projects, potentially forcing a re-evaluation of the current capital allocation strategy.
Based on the reported figures, the OCF-to-dividend coverage ratio has fluctuated significantly, reaching a low of 1.4x in several quarters, which indicates that while the dividend remains supported by regulated cash flows, the margin of safety is compressed by the company's substantial ongoing capital expenditure requirements.
The dividend appears sustainable under current regulatory conditions, but the tight coverage ratios suggest that any unexpected regulatory lag or significant operational disruption could pressure the payout. Investors should interpret these coverage levels as a reflection of the company's commitment to shareholder returns despite the heavy cash demands of its regulated utility footprint.
Analysis of the cash flow statement suggests that the reported figures may obscure future liabilities, particularly regarding the Colstrip coal facility, where potential decommissioning costs and environmental remediation obligations remain significant, yet-to-be-funded items that could impact long-term cash availability and regulatory recovery timelines.
The cash flow statement provides a view of current operational health but fails to capture the long-term tail risk associated with aging coal assets. The potential for these costs to be disallowed or delayed in future rate cases warrants further investigation into the company's long-term environmental liability provisioning.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying NWE stock.
Northwestern Energy Group Inc (NWE) generated $394.5M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Northwestern Energy Group Inc (NWE) reported negative free cash flow of $130.0M in 2025, indicating capital requirements exceeded cash from operations.
Northwestern Energy Group Inc (NWE) spent $524.5M on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.
In 2025, Northwestern Energy Group Inc (NWE) returned $161.4M to shareholders via cash dividends. This shows the company's commitment to returning capital to its equity investors.