Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 10.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 34,519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,217 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vantage Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 1,517 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 22,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,918,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 3,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $95.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.33. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $96.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 72.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,335.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.17.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.