WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Stock Holdings Decreased by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 102,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $9,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.0% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,405,000 after buying an additional 6,785 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,392,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,538,000. Finally, Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 10,126 shares in the last quarter. 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 value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on WEC shares. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on 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. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.5 %

WEC opened at $99.52 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $102.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.74 and a 200-day moving average of $94.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.29%.

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.