Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 574 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 821,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 574 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.26% of WEC Energy Group worth $77,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Robbins Farley bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 20.7% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $101.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $32.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $96.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.21. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is currently 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.