Soroban Capital Partners LP Sells 398,251 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Soroban Capital Partners LP lowered its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,148,478 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 398,251 shares during the quarter. WEC Energy Group accounts for approximately 1.4% of Soroban Capital Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Soroban Capital Partners LP owned about 0.36% of WEC Energy Group worth $108,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,038,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329,574 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $756,423,000 after buying an additional 110,802 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $538,112,000 after buying an additional 173,006 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,212,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $396,114,000 after buying an additional 309,697 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 2,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $289,470.22. This trade represents a 44.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,305 shares of company stock worth $3,067,540. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WEC. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.13.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock traded down $1.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $105.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,521,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,157,957. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $33.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.47 and a fifty-two week high of $111.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $107.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.90.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group's revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 paid a $0.8975 dividend. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.59%.

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.