Somerset Trust Co Grows Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Somerset Trust Co boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,583 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $3,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 15,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 179,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,875,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 453,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,689,000 after acquiring an additional 78,580 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $99.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $102.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.90. 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 (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp boosted their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.40.

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.