Sciencast Management LP Grows Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Sciencast Management LP raised its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 28.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,738 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,207 shares during the quarter. WEC Energy Group makes up approximately 1.2% of Sciencast Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 158.0% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 22,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,841,000 after buying an additional 13,733 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 56,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 69.8% during the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 54,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,489,000 after acquiring an additional 22,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 47,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,895,000 after purchasing an additional 9,870 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock traded up $0.45 on Friday, hitting $80.79. 1,686,357 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,110,778. The company has a market capitalization of $25.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.42. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $93.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.93%.

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.