State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Trims Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 36.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 59,080 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $7,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwest Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth $32,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.17.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.9 %

WEC opened at $95.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $30.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $96.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.15 and a 200 day moving average of $83.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,932.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,796.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.