WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,510 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $17,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,495,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $442,697,000 after purchasing an additional 158,652 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,295,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,021,000 after purchasing an additional 142,412 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,216,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,620,000 after purchasing an additional 155,437 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,354,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $270,179,000 after purchasing an additional 44,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,851,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,148,000 after purchasing an additional 40,603 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $81.49 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $80.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.41. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $97.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.40.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 13th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $78.00 target price (down from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.64.

WEC Energy Group 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.