Morningstar Investment Services LLC Sells 17,884 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 56.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,884 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $70,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,210 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,425 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,235 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,881 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WEC. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC Energy Group stock traded up $1.56 on Friday, hitting $107.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,049,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,160,972. The firm has a market cap of $34.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $105.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.24. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $81.45 and a one year high of $111.00.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.8925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total transaction of $232,244.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $289,470.22. This trade represents a 44.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.