OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Has $434,000 Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora cut its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 459 shares during the quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after buying an additional 25,975,652 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after buying an additional 4,691,017 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,971,000 after buying an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,765,000 after buying an additional 695,317 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.8 %

WEC opened at $98.15 on Thursday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $96.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.26.

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

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.40.

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.