WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by Centiva Capital LP

Centiva Capital LP lowered its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 69.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 39,915 shares during the quarter. Centiva Capital LP’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.2% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.45.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $98.21 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $31.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $102.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $97.50 and a 200-day moving average of $89.68.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

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.