Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,632,674 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 168,448 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.52% of WEC Energy Group worth $157,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.00.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.3 %

WEC traded up $1.24 on Friday, reaching $94.50. 3,133,853 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,111,946. The company has a market cap of $29.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $102.79. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.87.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 87.29%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group 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.