Sanctuary Advisors LLC Acquires 4,100 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 95,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,100 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $9,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $762,453,000 after acquiring an additional 105,580 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after acquiring an additional 699,177 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.0 %

WEC opened at $103.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.50 and a fifty-two week high of $104.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50-day moving average is $97.17 and its 200 day moving average is $96.03.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.