WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 4.4%, now owning 80,113 shares worth $8.73 million.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings for WEC Energy Group, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $106.40, while others have downgraded the stock to "sell."
• WEC Energy Group's recent performance included a quarterly EPS of $0.76, exceeding estimates, and a revenue increase of 13.4% year-over-year, but the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.8925 per share.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lowered its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 80,113 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,683 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $8,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WEC. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $403,372,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 12,777.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,834,024 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $199,872,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819,782 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3,815.2% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,471,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $138,342,000 after buying an additional 1,433,522 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,213,304 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $567,727,000 after buying an additional 1,349,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,103,604 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $556,191,000 after buying an additional 726,267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank set a $115.00 target price on WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on WEC Energy Group and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.40.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $107.39 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $89.18 and a fifty-two week high of $111.90. The firm has a market cap of $34.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.42. The business's fifty day moving average is $106.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.8925 per share. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,620 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $179,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,360 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,960. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 5,930 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.14, for a total value of $659,060.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $734,190.84. The trade was a 47.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 70,603 shares of company stock worth $7,813,377. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.