South Street Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

South Street Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 168,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,199 shares during the period. WEC Energy Group makes up 2.5% of South Street Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. South Street Advisors LLC owned 0.05% of WEC Energy Group worth $16,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 19.4% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 109,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,985,000 after acquiring an additional 17,807 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 19.1% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 4,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 45,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,723,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 43.2% during the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 44,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,675,000 after acquiring an additional 13,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 335.4% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 54,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,442,000 after acquiring an additional 41,668 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC traded up $1.85 during trading on Friday, hitting $97.98. 2,087,394 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,187,937. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $100.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $96.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.26.

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

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.66%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,208.98. This represents a 43.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The trade was a 46.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.45.

About WEC Energy Group

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.