WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Director Ulice Payne, Jr. Sells 1,150 Shares of Stock

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $106.07 on Wednesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.50 and a 52-week high of $106.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $33.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 73.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in 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. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,038,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329,574 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $756,423,000 after purchasing an additional 110,802 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $538,112,000 after purchasing an additional 173,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

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.