WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lessened its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 83,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,390 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $7,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $188,879,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 897.4% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 568,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,694,000 after buying an additional 511,618 shares during the period. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,421,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business’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 $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on WEC shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp boosted 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 lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $109.14 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $34.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $103.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.04. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.47 and a twelve month high of $110.19.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.