Everence Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Everence Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 49.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,900 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $91.98 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $96.74 and its 200 day moving average is $92.18. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $102.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $29.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.8925 per share. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.29%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’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 directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, 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 WEC Energy Group 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 sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WEC shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective 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. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.40.

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.