Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 5,675 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 181,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,675 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $14,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,071,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $342,669,000 after buying an additional 116,219 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,777,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $149,635,000 after purchasing an additional 51,540 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.0% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,557,000 after purchasing an additional 462,646 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,665,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,146,000 after purchasing an additional 803,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $127,945,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.6 %

WEC opened at $93.63 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $29.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $94.21.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased 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 note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.77.

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.