WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,054,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 65,322 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.33% of WEC Energy Group worth $99,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 5,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $105,000. Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at $884,000. MSH Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $658,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 358.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 430,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,504,000 after purchasing an additional 336,739 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.38.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC stock opened at $108.22 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $34.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.47 and a 12-month high of $111.00.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.8975 per share. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.