Thomasville National Bank Boosts Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Thomasville National Bank raised its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 184,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,644 shares during the quarter. WEC Energy Group accounts for approximately 1.2% of Thomasville National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Thomasville National Bank owned approximately 0.06% of WEC Energy Group worth $17,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $762,453,000 after buying an additional 105,580 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after acquiring an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, 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 three months, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of 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 shares of 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. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC traded down $0.54 on Monday, reaching $92.87. 405,618 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,607,438. The stock has a market cap of $29.38 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $96.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results 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 company 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%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders 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. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.29%.

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.