State of Michigan Retirement System Decreases Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 85,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $8,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised 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 valued at $2,500,680,000 after acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $762,453,000 after purchasing an additional 105,580 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 valued at $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,971,000 after buying an additional 1,912,223 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of WEC opened at $104.58 on Thursday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.47 and a 1-year high of $108.87. The company has a market capitalization of $33.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.33.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. 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% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

About WEC Energy Group

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.