WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Stock Holdings Decreased by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lessened its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,296,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,174 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of WEC Energy Group worth $101,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WEC. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 899,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,543,000 after acquiring an additional 167,340 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.2% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 127,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,017,000 after acquiring an additional 2,701 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 5.4% in the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.3% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 501,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,379,000 after purchasing an additional 16,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 3,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $340,712.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business’s 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 $340,712.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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 cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.31.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $94.72 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.76 and a 200-day moving average of $83.92. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $96.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released 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 return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.