New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,510 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.07% of WEC Energy Group worth $17,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 582,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,022,000 after purchasing an additional 131,797 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 428,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,059,000 after buying an additional 14,084 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 72.6% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 129,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,933,000 after buying an additional 54,623 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 205,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,552,000 after buying an additional 24,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 44,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WEC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.64.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $81.49 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $80.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $97.34. The company has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.40.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.