WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Stock Holdings Reduced by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC reduced its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 338 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $3,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,495,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $442,697,000 after acquiring an additional 158,652 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,295,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,021,000 after buying an additional 142,412 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,216,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,620,000 after buying an additional 155,437 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,354,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $270,179,000 after acquiring an additional 44,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,851,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $149,148,000 after acquiring an additional 40,603 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays decreased 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.29.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were 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 $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $83.22 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $96.17. The company has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.93%.

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.