Mattern Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Mattern Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 88,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,350 shares during the period. Mattern Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $8,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth $45,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $103.59 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $97.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.22. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.50 and a 1 year high of $104.15. The company has a market cap of $32.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.91%.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.