Holocene Advisors LP trimmed its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 97,409 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,341 shares during the quarter. Holocene Advisors LP's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $9,369,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $362,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,223 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased 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 valued at $182,765,000 after purchasing an additional 695,317 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 897.4% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 568,629 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,694,000 after acquiring an additional 511,618 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of analysts have weighed in on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $95.55.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on WEC Energy Group
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business's 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 owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.
WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.1 %
WEC stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $98.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,769,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,129,253. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.74. The company has a market capitalization of $31.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $102.79.
WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is currently 81.66%.
About WEC Energy Group
(
Free Report)
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.
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