Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $2.41 Million Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 29.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,930 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $127,945,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,665,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,146,000 after purchasing an additional 803,718 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $201,328,000 after purchasing an additional 688,812 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,557,000 after purchasing an additional 462,646 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter valued at $23,297,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted 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. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.31.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $95.18 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $96.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at $213,335.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,335.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at $129,796.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.