WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Stock: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Holdings

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 743,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 26,669 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of WEC Energy Group worth $74,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WEC. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 121,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,179,000 after purchasing an additional 9,591 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,783,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.3% during the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 96,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,260,000 after buying an additional 12,773 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth $3,773,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 617,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,303,000 after acquiring an additional 89,140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WEC. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $110.50 to $108.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Scotiabank upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on WEC Energy Group from $121.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $117.00 target price (down from $120.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on WEC Energy Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total value of $103,468.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,588 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,101.04. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $115.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.80 and a fifty-two week high of $119.91.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.54% and a return on equity of 13.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.9525 per share. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.15%.

WEC Energy Group Profile

WEC Energy Group, Inc is an energy holding company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through its operating companies, the company generates and delivers electricity and provides natural gas distribution, storage and related energy services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

WEC Energy’s principal utility businesses include We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service in Wisconsin, Michigan Gas Utilities, Minnesota Energy Resources, Upper Michigan Energy Resources and North Dakota utility operations.