Zhang Financial LLC Reduces Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Zhang Financial LLC cut its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 33.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,511 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $467,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the third 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $453,794,000 after buying an additional 4,691,017 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 57.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,765,000 after purchasing an additional 695,317 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $99.18 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $102.79. The company has a market cap of $31.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $96.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.26.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Insider Activity

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WEC shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group 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.