Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Cuts Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 58.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,721 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 13,543 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3,828.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 140.8% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total transaction of $232,244.35. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $289,470.22. This represents a 44.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WEC shares. Wall Street Zen raised WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Barclays boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their target price for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $115.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.33.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $103.09 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.50. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.47 and a 1 year high of $111.00. The company's fifty day moving average is $106.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.27.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a $0.8975 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is 69.59%.

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.

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