WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Stake Raised by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 59,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,495 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $6,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 57.3% during the third quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.6% in the third quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,976 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 37,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,824,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 67.4% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 2,983 shares during the period. Finally, Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth about $199,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on WEC Energy Group from $110.00 to $107.00 in a report on Thursday, October 15th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 16th. Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. lowered their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $110.50 to $108.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $106.50 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.88.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $117.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $38.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.43. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.80 and a twelve month high of $120.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $107.51 and a 200 day moving average of $111.78.

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

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.9525 dividend. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.15%.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group is a regulated energy holding company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through its subsidiaries, it generates, transmits and distributes electricity and provides natural gas service to residential, commercial and industrial customers. The company’s utility operations serve communities across Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. Its businesses include electric and gas utilities, as well as natural gas storage and related energy services. WEC Energy Group adopted its current name in 2015, following the combination of Wisconsin Energy Corporation and Integrys Energy Group.