WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Holdings Boosted by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 38.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $93,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Howe & Rusling Inc. purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Commerce Bank grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 79,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,653,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 3,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth approximately $429,000. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 37.5% during the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 33,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,143,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $100.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $96.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.88. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $101.43.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,208.98. The trade was a 43.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. This represents a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,314 shares of company stock worth $5,047,988 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WEC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

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.