Empirical Finance LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 138 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after buying an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 391.0% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 8,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 8,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thomasville National Bank purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,098,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.88.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of WEC stock opened at $101.12 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79. The stock has a market cap of $31.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.60 and a 200 day moving average of $95.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.15%.

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.