Everence Capital Management Inc. Sells 3,900 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Everence Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 49.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,900 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $91.98 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $102.79. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $96.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.8925 per share. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WEC. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group 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.