Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Has $2.61 Million Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. trimmed its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 15.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,071 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.2% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WEC. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.55.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of WEC opened at $97.09 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $97.63 and its 200-day moving average is $89.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $30.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.8925 per share. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.66%.

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.