Wealthspire Advisors LLC Has $765,000 Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,786 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WEC. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 26,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,101,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 91,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,393,000 after purchasing an additional 2,130 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.6% in the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 10,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $818,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth $571,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 3,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Barclays dropped 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 research report on Thursday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.29.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $85.35. 78,131 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,094,212. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 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 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $81.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $94.96.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.07. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 72.93%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.