Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,501 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $3,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth $1,015,000. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.2% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter worth about $307,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 864.5% in the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 17,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 19,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $55,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of WEC opened at $106.10 on Wednesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.94 and a twelve month high of $118.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.09.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.75%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $0.9525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 72.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WEC. BTIG Research raised shares of WEC Energy Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on WEC Energy Group from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $131.00 target price on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.92.

WEC Energy Group Profile

WEC Energy Group is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based regulated energy holding company whose primary businesses are the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and the distribution of natural gas. The company operates through a set of utility subsidiaries that provide bundled energy service, customer billing and energy-related programs to residential, commercial and industrial customers. As a regulated utility group, WEC’s operations focus on delivering reliable service while managing infrastructure investment and compliance with state and federal utility regulation.

Its utility subsidiaries include well-known regional operators such as We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, along with Chicago-area natural gas utilities that were part of the Integrys Energy Group acquisition.