Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Decreases Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV trimmed its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 858 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Wealth Alliance lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 9,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.2% in the second quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at $1,428,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WEC. StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. KeyCorp increased their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 report on Wednesday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.31.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.5 %

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $95.18 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $96.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $90.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. Analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.