Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC – Get Rating) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 783,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,307 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.25% of WEC Energy Group worth $70,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
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Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WEC. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 29,308,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,621,096,000 after purchasing an additional 440,902 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,007,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,912,941,000 after buying an additional 541,346 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 28.2% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,902,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $594,069,000 after buying an additional 1,296,919 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 14.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,400,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,494,000 after acquiring an additional 683,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,057,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,465,000 after acquiring an additional 45,606 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.05% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have issued reports on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $109.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, December 5th. TheStreet raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.78.
WEC Energy Group Stock Performance
WEC stock traded down $2.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $86.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,658,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,216,778. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.82 and a 12 month high of $108.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $93.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.29. The firm has a market cap of $27.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.69.
WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.05. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 14.68%. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 14th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 13th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.96%.
WEC Energy Group Profile
WEC Energy Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the generation and distribution of electricity and natural gas. It operates through the following segments: Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure and Corporate & Other. The Wisconsin segment refers to the electric and gas utility operations.
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