Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,290 shares during the period. WEC Energy Group accounts for 1.7% of Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $7,962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WEC. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 15,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth about $214,000. Stablepoint Partners LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 6,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $204,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.40.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $98.02 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $102.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $96.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.98.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.