National Pension Service Cuts Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

National Pension Service trimmed its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 360,140 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 45,973 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.11% of WEC Energy Group worth $33,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $453,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691,017 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $362,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,276,000 after acquiring an additional 699,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 57.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $182,765,000 after acquiring an additional 695,317 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC traded down $2.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $106.35. 1,842,529 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,194,681. The stock has a market cap of $33.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.47 and a fifty-two week high of $108.87. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $99.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is 73.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WEC shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on 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 lowered WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $101.88.

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.