First Foundation Advisors Has $360,000 Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

First Foundation Advisors cut its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 6.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 242 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $108.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $105.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.05. The company has a market cap of $34.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.44. 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 fifty-two week low of $83.82 and a fifty-two week high of $111.00.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.95%. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.8925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price target on WEC Energy Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.40.

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.