Nordea Investment Management AB Cuts Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Nordea Investment Management AB trimmed its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 535 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares during the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 518.8% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 431,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,463,000 after purchasing an additional 361,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,450,000 after purchasing an additional 6,583 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WEC. KeyCorp increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $93.43 on Monday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $102.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $96.61 and its 200 day moving average is $92.62. The stock has a market cap of $29.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.8925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.