WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Director Ulice Payne, Jr. Sells 1,150 Shares

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.4 %

WEC stock opened at $105.50 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $33.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.75. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.50 and a 52 week high of $106.75.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,038,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329,574 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $756,423,000 after acquiring an additional 110,802 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $538,112,000 after acquiring an additional 173,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after acquiring an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.