WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by South Street Advisors LLC

South Street Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 168,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,199 shares during the period. WEC Energy Group accounts for 2.5% of South Street Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. South Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $16,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes 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 valued at $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,328,000 after acquiring an additional 688,812 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,954,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,372,000 after acquiring an additional 206,637 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 61,019 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 22,026 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The trade was a 43.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction 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 46.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised 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. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of WEC stock traded up $1.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $97.98. 2,087,394 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,187,937. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $100.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.26.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

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.