Ieq Capital LLC Has $228,000 Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Ieq Capital LLC trimmed its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 77.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,231 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,971,000 after buying an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 57.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,765,000 after acquiring an additional 695,317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WEC. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp raised 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other 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 value of $119,795.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC opened at $106.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $33.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.78 and a 12-month high of $107.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $98.94 and a 200-day moving average of $96.93.

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

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.91%.

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.