WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by Castellan Group

Key Points

• Castellan Group reduced its stake in WEC Energy Group by 20.6%, selling 7,933 shares and ending with a total of 30,527 shares valued at approximately $3,327,000.
• Analysts have mixed views on WEC Energy Group, with JPMorgan upgrading the stock to a "neutral" rating, while Goldman Sachs downgraded it to a "sell," setting a price target of $100.00.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.76, exceeding expectations, with revenues rising by 13.4% year-over-year, totaling $2.01 billion.

Castellan Group trimmed its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 20.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,933 shares during the quarter. Castellan Group's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $3,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $612,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 4,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,113,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.0% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 128,526 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,561,000 after buying an additional 4,966 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 37,069 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,040,000 after buying an additional 1,614 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total value of $232,244.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $289,470.22. The trade was a 44.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WEC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.40.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $111.49. 513,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,215,271. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $105.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.40. The company has a market cap of $35.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.76 and a 52-week high of $111.60.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.8925 per share. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.39%.

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.