Triangle Securities Wealth Management Reduces Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Triangle Securities Wealth Management lessened its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 209 shares during the quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth about $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of WEC stock opened at $99.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $96.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.05.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WEC shares. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.40.

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.