WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Bought by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 537 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $3,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $64,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 19.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 6,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 848,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,682,000 after buying an additional 65,287 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 34,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,461,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $875,000 after acquiring an additional 923 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.5 %

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $81.32 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $82.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.37. The stock has a market cap of $25.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.43. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.47 and a 52 week high of $101.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.48% and a net margin of 14.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 13th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $106.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $87.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.00.

WEC Energy Group Company 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. The company operates through six segments: Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure, and Corporate and Other.