PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 8,156 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has reduced its stake in WEC Energy Group by 0.3%, owning 2,375,321 shares after selling 8,156 shares.
• WEC Energy Group reported a quarterly earnings of $0.76 per share, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $2.01 billion for the period.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.8925 per share, leading to an annualized yield of 3.2%.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,375,321 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,156 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.74% of WEC Energy Group worth $258,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 12,777.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,834,024 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $199,872,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819,782 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3,815.2% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,471,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $138,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,522 shares during the last quarter. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $53,970,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,935,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $370,128,000 after buying an additional 526,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,519,401 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $274,564,000 after buying an additional 430,269 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank set a $115.00 target price on WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.40.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $111.31. 2,021,314 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,226,019. The stock has a market cap of $35.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $105.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.40. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.76 and a 12 month high of $111.64.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.8925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total value of $232,244.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,686 shares in the company, valued at $289,470.22. This represents a 44.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.