Franklin Resources Inc. Has $84.72 Million Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,006,523 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 122,530 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.32% of WEC Energy Group worth $84,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,401 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at $81,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 370,199 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,820,000 after purchasing an additional 17,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Capital LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 4,252 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.29.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $80.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,252,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,137,898. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.63. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $93.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is 72.93%.

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.