WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,889 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,585 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $11,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,500,680,000 after buying an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $453,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $362,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,223 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $201,328,000 after purchasing an additional 688,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 11.8% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,954,778 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $153,372,000 after purchasing an additional 206,637 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WEC. Barclays raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $96.91.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WEC traded up $0.25 during trading on Thursday, hitting $95.86. 1,680,994 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,113,797. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $97.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.24. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $102.79.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

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.