Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,179 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ProVise Management Group LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 3,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Enhancing Capital LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,101,000. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. South Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. South Street Advisors LLC now owns 173,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,358,000 after buying an additional 5,755 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % 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. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, 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. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $106.76 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $110.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $102.63 and a 200 day moving average of $98.49. 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 company has a market capitalization of $33.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45.

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

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.