Leeward Investments LLC MA Cuts Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Leeward Investments LLC MA lowered its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 147,224 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,371 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $14,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.7% in 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 period. Earnest Partners LLC grew 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. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,782,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $139,889,000 after buying an additional 61,019 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,355,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $106,385,000 after buying an additional 22,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,320,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $108,458,000 after buying an additional 111,254 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $340,712.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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 equities research 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $95.33. The stock had a trading volume of 2,452,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,160,241. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's 50 day moving average is $95.72 and its 200 day moving average is $87.56. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $100.31.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company 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 business posted $1.00 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.66%.

About WEC Energy Group

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.