WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by Leeward Investments LLC MA

Leeward Investments LLC MA lessened its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,162 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $13,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691,017 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $362,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake 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 valued at $182,765,000 after purchasing an additional 695,317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock opened at $104.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.50 and a 1 year high of $104.98.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, 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, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

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.