WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Stake Raised by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 5.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Horizon Investment Services LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth $379,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2,964.9% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 108,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,841,000 after purchasing an additional 105,106 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter worth about $10,333,000. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter worth about $325,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 4th. Citigroup assumed coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 9,231 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.88, for a total value of $1,023,533.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 56,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,258,399.84. This represents a 14.06% 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, EVP Molly A. Mulroy sold 4,030 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.33, for a total transaction of $444,629.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,113.57. This represents a 40.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 68,448 shares of company stock worth $7,581,132. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $115.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $37.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.47. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.94 and a 52 week high of $115.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.67.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.8925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.39%.

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.