Trust Co. of Vermont Has $91,000 Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 39.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $91,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC opened at $99.18 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $31.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.65 and a 200-day moving average of $93.15.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.40.

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.