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

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business’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 transaction of $119,795.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $106.07 on Wednesday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $98.19 and a 200 day moving average of $96.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $2,500,680,000 after buying an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 134.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,038,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329,574 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth about $188,879,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3,815.2% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,471,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,522 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.