WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by 1834 Investment Advisors Co.

1834 Investment Advisors Co. lessened its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 73,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,197 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $6,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $762,453,000 after buying an additional 105,580 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after buying an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $98.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.76.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WEC shares. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.