WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC lessened its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,283 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $3,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 24,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,101,000 after buying an additional 3,283 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 35,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,962,000 after acquiring an additional 3,045 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,520,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,993,000 after acquiring an additional 199,288 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 25,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 15,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WEC. Barclays increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. KeyCorp raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total transaction of $66,337.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,932.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $95.48 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $97.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $92.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $30.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 72.93%.

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.