Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 7,905 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 39.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,905 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Robbins Farley purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $101.82 on Monday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $32.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 69.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank raised their target price on 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, Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

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

WEC Energy Group Company 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.