BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 233,285 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 29.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 560,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 233,285 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.18% of WEC Energy Group worth $53,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $101.82 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.31. 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. The firm has a market cap of $32.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during 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 was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.66%.

WEC Energy Group Profile

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.