Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,036 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $11,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 14,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on WEC shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank increased their target price 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, Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock opened at $107.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.47 and a 1 year high of $110.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $103.59 and a 200 day moving average of $98.94. The company has a market cap of $33.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

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.