UMB Bank n.a. Boosts Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 160,128 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 45,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,597,000 after buying an additional 4,164 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 49.5% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 53,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,199,000 after buying an additional 17,717 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 581,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,612,000 after buying an additional 33,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 60.5% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 60,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,742,000 after buying an additional 22,775 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target 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. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 2.6 %

WEC stock opened at $97.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $96.70 and a 200-day moving average of $93.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts 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 $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 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. Company insiders own 0.44% 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.