WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Holdings Trimmed by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,054,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 65,322 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $99,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 14,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.8 %

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $108.22 on Monday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $77.47 and a one year high of $111.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $105.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.24. The company has a market capitalization of $34.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.8975 per share. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 73.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.38.

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.