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

Leeward Investments LLC MA cut its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 143,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,162 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $13,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $762,453,000 after acquiring an additional 105,580 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after acquiring an additional 699,177 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $453,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 worth $362,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on WEC shares. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.5 %

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $104.04 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.50 and a twelve month high of $104.98. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49.

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

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

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

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.