Bank & Trust Co Lowers Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Bank & Trust Co reduced its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 183 shares during the quarter. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,500,680,000 after buying an additional 25,975,652 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $453,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691,017 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,223 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 57.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,765,000 after purchasing an additional 695,317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.5 %

WEC traded up $1.38 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.50. The stock had a trading volume of 875,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,227,248. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $29.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $96.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.18. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WEC. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.40.

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.