Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,390 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $7,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ClearBridge Investments Ltd increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 1,951,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,544,000 after acquiring an additional 85,569 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $904,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 50,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,761,000 after purchasing an additional 2,492 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $116,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WEC shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $109.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.47 and a 1-year high of $110.19. The stock has a market cap of $34.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $103.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.04.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

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.