BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Decreases Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S trimmed its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,418 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,322,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,179,451 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $110,917,000 after buying an additional 29,438 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 5,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $105,000. Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $884,000. Finally, MSH Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $658,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.38.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 2.1 %

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $109.19 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $106.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.38. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.47 and a fifty-two week high of $111.00. The company has a market capitalization of $34.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.8975 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is 73.91%.

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.

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