Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 19,275 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 30.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,275 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $4,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 15,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Stablepoint Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 6,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $204,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $99.52 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.28. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.29%.

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.