Bank of America Corp DE Reduces Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,325,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 1,004,042 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 2.00% of WEC Energy Group worth $594,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 575,198 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,095,000 after buying an additional 6,569 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 832,834 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $78,320,000 after acquiring an additional 272,218 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 4,418 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 26,686 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,510,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on 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 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.38.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $108.88 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $106.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.19. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $111.00. The company has a market cap of $34.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.8975 per share. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is 73.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.

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