FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Has $249,000 Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH trimmed its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 187 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WEC. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Somerset Trust Co boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 34,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 15,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,504,000 after buying an additional 5,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.40.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $99.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month 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 50-day simple moving average of $96.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.90.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.86 billion during 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%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

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.