Brookstone Capital Management Has $13.35 Million Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Brookstone Capital Management cut its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 116,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,480 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $13,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.6% during the second quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 20,117 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,305,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho set a $125.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Monday, October 27th. TD Cowen started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $121.00 to $113.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $129.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.92.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:WEC opened at $105.55 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $91.94 and a one year high of $118.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $34.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.03.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.60%. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.9525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 67.49%.

WEC Energy Group Profile

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.