Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 19,100 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 19,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,608,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dearborn Partners LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 582,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,022,000 after acquiring an additional 131,797 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 428,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,059,000 after purchasing an additional 14,084 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 205,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,552,000 after purchasing an additional 24,892 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 44,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,855,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were 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 owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,402,131.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $81.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $25.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.40. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $98.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.34.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.15%.

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.