WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 458 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WEC. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 19.4% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 109,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,985,000 after purchasing an additional 17,807 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 45,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,723,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 335.4% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 54,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,442,000 after buying an additional 41,668 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 142.4% during the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 33,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,757,000 after acquiring an additional 19,726 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 241.2% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 38,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,169,000 after acquiring an additional 27,284 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group 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 $716,208.98. The trade was a 43.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The trade was 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.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $97.98 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $100.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $96.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.26. 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 cap of $31.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.44.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. Analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

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.