V Square Quantitative Management LLC Has $368,000 Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 335 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $271,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 17,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,662,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Castellan Group acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,617,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 156,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,694,000 after buying an additional 36,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 142,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,424,000 after purchasing an additional 10,607 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was 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 approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were 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. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $103.10 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.50 and a 1 year high of $104.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.86.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 69.15%.

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.