WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Position Increased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 18.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,425 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $737,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 64.0% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 20,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,676,000 after acquiring an additional 8,123 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth $242,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,295,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,021,000 after buying an additional 142,412 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 37.5% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 395,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,879,000 after buying an additional 107,879 shares during the period. Finally, Alethea Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at $427,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,946,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,690,011. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $93.37. The company has a market cap of $24.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $80.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 16.67%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Scotiabank decreased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.92.

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.