WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Stock Position Cut by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 196 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 95.8% in the fourth quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 5,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 2,639 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 2,680 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,494,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,764,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $103.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $32.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.50 and a twelve month high of $104.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $97.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.91%.

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.