Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 243 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 49,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 243 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $5,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 134.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,038,931,000 after buying an additional 6,329,574 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $756,423,000 after purchasing an additional 110,802 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $538,112,000 after purchasing an additional 173,006 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,212,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $396,114,000 after purchasing an additional 309,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,935,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $370,128,000 after purchasing an additional 526,014 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WEC opened at $105.49 on Thursday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.47 and a fifty-two week high of $111.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $106.73 and a 200 day moving average of $102.76. The firm has a market cap of $33.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a $0.8975 dividend. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 69.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total transaction of $232,244.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $289,470.22. The trade was a 44.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on WEC shares. Scotiabank set a $115.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.13.

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.