7,608 WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Shares Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 4.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 156,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,608 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $15,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 8.6% in the second quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 121,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,179,000 after purchasing an additional 9,591 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.3% in the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 96,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,260,000 after buying an additional 12,773 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at $2,783,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at $3,773,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.9% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 617,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,303,000 after buying an additional 89,140 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WEC. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. HSBC started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $106.50 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $116.93 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.74. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.80 and a 12 month high of $120.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $38.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.43.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 13.49% and a net margin of 17.54%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.9525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 69.15%.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group is a regulated energy holding company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through its subsidiaries, it generates, transmits and distributes electricity and provides natural gas service to residential, commercial and industrial customers. The company’s utility operations serve communities across Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. Its businesses include electric and gas utilities, as well as natural gas storage and related energy services. WEC Energy Group adopted its current name in 2015, following the combination of Wisconsin Energy Corporation and Integrys Energy Group.