Private Advisor Group LLC Decreases Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Private Advisor Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 882 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $104.89 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $97.96 and its 200 day moving average is $96.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $33.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.50 and a twelve month high of $105.29.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 73.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WEC. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

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. It operates through Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, and Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure segments.