WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Position Trimmed by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D has reduced its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.2%, now holding 96,771 shares worth approximately $10.5 million.
• WEC Energy Group reported better-than-expected earnings for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $0.76 compared to the estimate of $0.71.
• The company has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.8925 per share, representing an annual yield of 3.3%, while insiders sold a total of 70,603 shares valued at around $7.8 million.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,771 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,284 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $10,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 173,006 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of 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. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,935,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $370,128,000 after buying an additional 526,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,815,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $358,801,000 after buying an additional 141,393 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.73, for a total transaction of $3,875,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 274,969 shares in the company, valued at $30,447,317.37. The trade was a 11.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 4,177 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.30, for a total value of $460,723.10. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $193,797.10. This trade represents a 70.39% 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 valued at $7,813,377. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price target 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. 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. Wall Street Zen cut WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price target on WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on WEC Energy Group and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.7%

WEC opened at $107.39 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $106.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.15. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $89.18 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market cap of $34.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.42.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.8925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is 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.

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