WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 99.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,049 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 300,466 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth $50,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group 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 $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WEC. Scotiabank raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE WEC opened at $93.43 on Monday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $96.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.62. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $102.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $29.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.8925 dividend. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is currently 87.29%.

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.