Motco Decreases Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Motco lessened its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. First American Bank increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. First American Bank now owns 28,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,671,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,314,000 after buying an additional 1,981 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at $70,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 23,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,188,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.0 %

WEC opened at $105.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.78 and a 52 week high of $106.75. The stock has a market cap of $33.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $98.69 and a 200-day moving average of $96.81.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.