WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) is Confluence Investment Management LLC's 10th Largest Position

Confluence Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,489,994 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 20,388 shares during the quarter. WEC Energy Group comprises 1.9% of Confluence Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.47% of WEC Energy Group worth $140,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.1 %

WEC Energy Group stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $93.99. 955,901 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,083,027. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $96.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.79. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The business 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 business's revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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.