WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Purchased by Country Trust Bank

Country Trust Bank boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 333,419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,658 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank owned 0.11% of WEC Energy Group worth $31,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.0% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,405,000 after buying an additional 6,785 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,392,000. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth $1,538,000. Finally, Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 10,126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp increased their price objective 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. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on 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. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of WEC opened at $99.52 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.32. 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 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $102.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.48.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

About WEC Energy Group

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.