Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 942,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,337 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.30% of WEC Energy Group worth $88,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,500,680,000 after acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $762,453,000 after buying an additional 105,580 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after buying an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,863,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,350,000 after purchasing an additional 87,711 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, KeyCorp upped 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC stock opened at $108.39 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.47 and a twelve month high of $108.43. The company has a market cap of $34.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $99.21 and its 200-day moving average is $97.17.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.91%.

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.