JGP Wealth Management LLC Cuts Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

JGP Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 368 shares during the quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $762,453,000 after purchasing an additional 105,580 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,971,000 after buying an additional 1,912,223 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE WEC opened at $98.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $102.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $96.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.86.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of 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 raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.40.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were 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 directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.