WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 698,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 73,988 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.22% of WEC Energy Group worth $57,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 583,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,927,000 after purchasing an additional 21,914 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,320,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,458,000 after purchasing an additional 111,254 shares during the last quarter. JT Stratford LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,210,000. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 71.9% in the 1st quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rodgers Brothers Inc. increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 20,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WEC. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $83.73. 1,595,048 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,698,780. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $92.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $80.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.52. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.07. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend 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.