Rhumbline Advisers Trims Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 608,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,954 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $57,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,500,680,000 after acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after buying an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,971,000 after buying an additional 1,912,223 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,765,000 after buying an additional 695,317 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock opened at $103.10 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.50 and a twelve month high of $104.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 69.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays upgraded 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 note on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.88.

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.