Cerity Partners LLC Decreases Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Cerity Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 59.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 53,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 79,297 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $5,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,038,931,000 after buying an additional 6,329,574 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $188,879,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,421,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,972,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $185,499,000 after purchasing an additional 387,178 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.38.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $106.84 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.47 and a 52 week high of $111.00. The company has a market capitalization of $34.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $105.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.