Magellan Asset Management Ltd Decreases Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd cut its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 28.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,663,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 648,423 shares during the period. WEC Energy Group accounts for about 1.7% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $156,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 134.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,038,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329,574 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $756,423,000 after purchasing an additional 110,802 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,863,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,350,000 after buying an additional 87,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,261,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $212,691,000 after buying an additional 46,609 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $108.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.47 and a fifty-two week high of $110.19. The company has a fifty day moving average of $104.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.20.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group 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.