Insider Selling: WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) CEO Sells 6,720 Shares of Stock

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC traded up $0.69 during trading on Monday, reaching $101.35. 2,262,369 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,143,204. The company has a 50-day moving average of $96.69 and a 200-day moving average of $88.91. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $101.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

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

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park National Corp OH raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% in the third quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.