WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by Holocene Advisors LP

Holocene Advisors LP lowered its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 12.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. 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 buying an additional 25,975,652 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in 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 last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 57.7% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 695,317 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $201,328,000 after purchasing an additional 688,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 897.4% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 568,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,694,000 after purchasing an additional 511,618 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Bank of America boosted 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. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.45.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC stock opened at $98.21 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $97.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.68. The company has a market capitalization of $31.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.