Inspire Investing LLC Sells 2,052 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Inspire Investing LLC trimmed its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,052 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth about $32,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.31.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $94.56 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $90.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.15. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $96.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $29.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

Insider Activity

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,335.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.