WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,390,656 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,419 shares during the quarter. WEC Energy Group accounts for about 2.3% of Confluence Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.43% of WEC Energy Group worth $159,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,945,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,162,348,000 after buying an additional 816,243 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,594,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $892,020,000 after acquiring an additional 235,653 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,709,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,308,000 after acquiring an additional 189,890 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,609,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $271,941,000 after purchasing an additional 162,963 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,030,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,574,000 after purchasing an additional 30,987 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $121.00 to $113.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $131.00 price target on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Cowen began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.92.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:WEC opened at $104.83 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.94 and a twelve month high of $118.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $110.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.09.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $0.9525 dividend. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 67.49%.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based regulated energy holding company whose primary businesses are the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and the distribution of natural gas. The company operates through a set of utility subsidiaries that provide bundled energy service, customer billing and energy-related programs to residential, commercial and industrial customers. As a regulated utility group, WEC’s operations focus on delivering reliable service while managing infrastructure investment and compliance with state and federal utility regulation.

Its utility subsidiaries include well-known regional operators such as We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, along with Chicago-area natural gas utilities that were part of the Integrys Energy Group acquisition.