Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC Takes Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $148,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WEC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,117,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,713,000 after buying an additional 160,128 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 23.0% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 152,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,933,000 after buying an additional 28,405 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 48.1% during the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 17,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,368,000 after buying an additional 5,667 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 10.0% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 45,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,597,000 after purchasing an additional 4,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $951,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $99.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.26. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly 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. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 81.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WEC. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 a total of 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.