UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 4,702 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Key Points

• UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp has reduced its stake in WEC Energy Group by 23.4%, selling 4,702 shares and leaving it with 15,382 shares worth approximately $1.68 million.
• WEC Energy Group reported $0.76 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with a revenue increase of 13.4% year-over-year to $2.01 billion.
• The company plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.8925 per share, which equates to an annualized yield of 3.2% and a payout ratio of 68.39%.

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lessened its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 23.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,382 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,702 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 751,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $70,693,000 after buying an additional 61,708 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 196,432 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $18,478,000 after buying an additional 28,476 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 23,090 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,171,000 after buying an additional 2,015 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Anthony Reese sold 4,177 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.30, for a total value of $460,723.10. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $193,797.10. This represents a 70.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.55, for a total transaction of $276,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 4,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,410.45. This represents a 37.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,752 shares of company stock valued at $6,610,023. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.40.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.5%

WEC traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $110.54. 684,406 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,214,671. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $86.76 and a one year high of $111.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.42. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $106.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.52.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business 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 $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.39%.

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.