Ethic Inc. Sells 1,081 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Ethic Inc. reduced its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,081 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,829 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 2,587 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 252.6% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 14,833.3% in the 1st quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $212,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.83.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $115.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $37.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $111.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.39. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.94 and a 1-year high of $118.18.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. Equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $179,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,960. The trade was a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 5,960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.98, for a total transaction of $661,440.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 274,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,516,059.62. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,448 shares of company stock worth $7,581,132 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.