Edgestream Partners L.P. Cuts Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Edgestream Partners L.P. decreased its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 93.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,143 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 61,322 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.'s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after buying an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $362,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,223 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 57.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $182,765,000 after purchasing an additional 695,317 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $201,328,000 after purchasing an additional 688,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 151.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 583,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,168,000 after buying an additional 351,972 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WEC. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Scotiabank upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $95.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC traded down $0.63 during trading on Friday, reaching $97.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,468,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,706,763. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $97.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $102.79. The company has a market capitalization of $30.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.8925 dividend. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

WEC Energy Group Company Profile

WEC Energy Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States. It operates through Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, and Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure segments.