Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Decreases Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 942,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,337 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $88,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WEC. Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 4.8% in the fourth 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 during the period. Wealth Alliance raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 14,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tsfg LLC increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on WEC. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $108.39 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $108.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $99.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49.

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

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.91%.

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.