Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $139,000 Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 178 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at about $64,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 6,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 8.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 848,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,682,000 after buying an additional 65,287 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 10.2% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 34,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,461,000 after buying an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 11.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $875,000 after acquiring an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $79.61 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.40. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $98.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.32.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 14.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.31.

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.