Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $333,000 Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC cut its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,055 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 489,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,994,000 after purchasing an additional 4,249 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,261,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $212,691,000 after buying an additional 46,609 shares during the period. CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 12,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $108.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $99.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.17. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.47 and a 12 month high of $108.43. The company has a market capitalization of $34.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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). 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 the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 73.91%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on WEC. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. KeyCorp boosted their target price 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 upgraded shares of 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

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.