Raymond James Trust N.A. Grows Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 6.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 817 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,071,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $342,669,000 after purchasing an additional 116,219 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,777,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,635,000 after buying an additional 51,540 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $143,557,000 after buying an additional 462,646 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 93.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,665,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $140,146,000 after buying an additional 803,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at about $127,945,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,335.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at $213,335.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,462 shares of company stock valued at $218,668 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Scotiabank raised 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.85.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC traded up $0.22 on Monday, reaching $92.88. 72,320 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,185,954. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $93.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $29.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.70.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 72.93%.

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.