FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Has $249,000 Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lowered its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 187 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $99.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $96.62 and a 200-day moving average of $92.90.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.40.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Insiders own 0.44% 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.