WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Bought by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 12.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 27.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 731,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,091,000 after purchasing an additional 158,184 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.4% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,074 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at $287,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at $23,297,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 10.4% in the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 96,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,900,000 after purchasing an additional 9,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $80.10. The stock had a trading volume of 51,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,089,352. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.42. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $93.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.41.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.07. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 72.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WEC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

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.