Wintrust Investments LLC Buys New Shares in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,707,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $150,655,000 after purchasing an additional 7,270 shares during the period. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 102.9% during the second quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 49,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,342,000 after purchasing an additional 25,234 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.8% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 987,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,150,000 after purchasing an additional 18,904 shares during the period. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $81.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.42. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.47 and a fifty-two week high of $101.11. The firm has a market cap of $25.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.43.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.80% and a return on equity of 11.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 13th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 72.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WEC. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $95.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Bank of America cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $102.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $94.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, October 9th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $87.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $102.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.00.

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. The company operates through six segments: Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure, and Corporate and Other.