Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 828 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 828 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $983,000. Dearborn Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 582,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,022,000 after buying an additional 131,797 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 316,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,391,000 after buying an additional 19,867 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 428,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,059,000 after buying an additional 14,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 324.5% in the 4th quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 39,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,304,000 after buying an additional 30,009 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WEC traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $83.94. 384,284 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,090,976. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $91.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.41.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.07. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 72.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WEC shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

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.