Motco Sells 678 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Motco cut its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 54,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 678 shares during the period. Motco’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $5,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,500,680,000 after acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $762,453,000 after purchasing an additional 105,580 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $453,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp lifted 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $105.75 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.78 and a 12-month high of $106.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.69 and a 200 day moving average of $96.81.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 73.91%.

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.