New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 11,300 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,300 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $12,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Robbins Farley purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $101.88.

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Insider Buying and Selling

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 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 $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $106.73. 2,614,654 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,208,749. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $98.69 and a 200-day moving average of $96.81. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $76.78 and a one year high of $107.14. The firm has a market cap of $33.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.