Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Lowers Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI trimmed its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,889 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,493 shares during the quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Achmea Investment Management B.V. acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. First Manhattan Co. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 102.0% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE:WEC traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $82.55. 237,908 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,277,722. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $79.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.40. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $99.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 14.98%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.17.

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.