Ballentine Partners LLC Increases Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 45.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,135 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at about $127,945,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5,257.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,465,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,015,000 after buying an additional 1,437,768 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 763.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,332,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,164,000 after buying an additional 1,178,270 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 93.3% in the fourth 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, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2,122.2% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 441,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,170,000 after acquiring an additional 421,731 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on WEC shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. KeyCorp upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.92.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of WEC traded up $0.55 on Monday, hitting $78.78. 67,668 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,148,322. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $93.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.25.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 16.67%. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.93%.

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.