Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 989 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 17.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 989 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% during the fourth 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. bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $188,879,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 12,777.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,834,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $199,872,000 after buying an additional 1,819,782 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3,815.2% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,471,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,342,000 after buying an additional 1,433,522 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of 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. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total transaction of $232,244.35. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $289,470.22. This trade represents a 44.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $104.71 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $77.47 and a one year high of $111.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $106.91 and a 200 day moving average of $102.61. The company has a market capitalization of $33.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.68, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.8975 per share. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 69.59%.

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.