Trustmark National Bank Trust Department Buys New Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Trustmark National Bank Trust Department purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Czech National Bank lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2,949.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 232,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,204,000 after purchasing an additional 224,410 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,047,000 after buying an additional 7,646 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 35.0% during the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 29,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,310,000 after buying an additional 7,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 359.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 115,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,453,000 after buying an additional 90,062 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $100.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.85. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $101.43. The firm has a market cap of $31.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at $716,208.98. This represents a 43.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. This trade represents a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,314 shares of company stock valued at $5,047,988. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

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.