Janus Henderson Group PLC Cuts Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Janus Henderson Group PLC cut its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 12.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,574 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,500 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $3,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during the 3rd 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,954,778 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $153,372,000 after buying an additional 206,637 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of 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 worth $182,765,000 after buying an additional 695,317 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC traded up $0.25 during trading on Thursday, hitting $95.86. 1,680,994 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,113,797. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $102.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $97.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WEC. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $96.91.

WEC Energy Group 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.