Brown Capital Management LLC Sells 142 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Brown Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. Brown Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WEC. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of WEC stock opened at $99.26 on Thursday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $100.31. 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 stock has a market cap of $31.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $96.48 and a 200-day moving average of $88.64.

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

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. The trade was a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,045 shares of company stock valued at $1,038,807. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.