WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board trimmed its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Robbins Farley purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 20.7% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.7 %

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $103.10 on Monday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.50 and a twelve month high of $104.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $97.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49.

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). The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 69.15%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.