Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Lowers Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lowered its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 20.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,490 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $97.39 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $96.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.60. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $102.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $30.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.48.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. 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. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.40.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.