Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,705 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $5,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,328,000 after acquiring an additional 688,812 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 11.8% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,954,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,372,000 after purchasing an additional 206,637 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,782,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $139,889,000 after purchasing an additional 61,019 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.7% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,355,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $106,385,000 after buying an additional 22,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 9.2% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,320,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,458,000 after buying an additional 111,254 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WEC shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of 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. StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target 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. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,796.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at $716,208.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,796.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $98.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.33. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $100.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $31.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 72.93%.

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.