Commerce Bank Sells 486 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Commerce Bank trimmed its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 486 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $7,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,405,000 after acquiring an additional 6,785 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $1,538,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 453,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,689,000 after purchasing an additional 78,580 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,073,000. Finally, Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth $271,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WEC. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.38.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $108.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.47 and a 52 week high of $111.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $105.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.53 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.8975 per share. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 73.91%.

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.