Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Reduces Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 897,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,871 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $75,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,608,000. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL lifted its holdings in 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. Highview Capital Management LLC DE purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $689,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.31.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 2.3 %

WEC stock opened at $79.61 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $98.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.32.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.