WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Stake Lowered by New Century Financial Group LLC

New Century Financial Group LLC decreased its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 449 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 5.2% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.6% in 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 period. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Park National Corp OH boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WEC shares. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp upped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $98.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $96.73 and its 200-day moving average is $93.62. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48.

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, 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.