Hsbc Holdings PLC Grows Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 549,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,395 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $43,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 324.5% in the fourth quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 39,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,304,000 after buying an additional 30,009 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 37,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,162,000 after purchasing an additional 9,526 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 324.9% in the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 28,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 21,758 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 38,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,282,000 after purchasing an additional 5,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 789.0% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 125,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,283,000 after purchasing an additional 111,134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,932.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $94.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $89.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.92. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $96.65.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 72.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.31.

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.