WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp reduced its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 4.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 864 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WEC. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,019,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,977,000 after purchasing an additional 23,827 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.8% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 216,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,024,000 after acquiring an additional 9,934 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 96.7% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $555,000. Finally, Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 3,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC stock opened at $95.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $97.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 81.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.91.

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.