Townsquare Capital LLC Has $291,000 Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Townsquare Capital LLC lessened its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 70.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,985 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 265.8% during the 2nd quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $110.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $107.07 and a 200-day moving average of $109.58. The company has a market cap of $36.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.37 and a 52 week high of $118.18.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.60%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.9525 per share. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Mizuho set a $125.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Monday, October 27th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.33.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based regulated energy holding company whose primary businesses are the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and the distribution of natural gas. The company operates through a set of utility subsidiaries that provide bundled energy service, customer billing and energy-related programs to residential, commercial and industrial customers. As a regulated utility group, WEC’s operations focus on delivering reliable service while managing infrastructure investment and compliance with state and federal utility regulation.

Its utility subsidiaries include well-known regional operators such as We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, along with Chicago-area natural gas utilities that were part of the Integrys Energy Group acquisition.