National Pension Service Decreases Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

National Pension Service decreased its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 360,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 45,973 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.11% of WEC Energy Group worth $33,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 14,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $106.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.93. 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 twelve month low of $76.78 and a twelve month high of $107.14.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

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.