Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,226,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 35,672 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.70% of WEC Energy Group worth $242,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,038,931,000 after buying an additional 6,329,574 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $756,423,000 after purchasing an additional 110,802 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $538,112,000 after purchasing an additional 173,006 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,212,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $396,114,000 after purchasing an additional 309,697 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,935,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $370,128,000 after buying an additional 526,014 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total transaction of $232,244.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,686 shares in the company, valued at $289,470.22. The trade was a 44.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC traded up $1.23 during trading on Thursday, hitting $105.45. 1,133,921 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,149,171. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.40. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.47 and a 1 year high of $111.00. The company has a market cap of $33.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.44. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $105.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.69.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.97 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a $0.8975 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.59%.

About WEC Energy Group

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.