Moors & Cabot Inc. Has $369,000 Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,814 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth approximately $127,945,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 93.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 803,718 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,328,000 after purchasing an additional 688,812 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 36.0% during the first 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. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at $23,297,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC opened at $94.72 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $96.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $89.76 and a 200 day moving average of $83.92. 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 $29.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 72.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.31.

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.