Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Sells 2,235 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. cut its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 8.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,235 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in 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 worth $1,038,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329,574 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth about $188,879,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $199,872,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819,782 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $138,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth about $53,970,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $102.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.08. The company has a market cap of $32.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $111.00.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.95%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a $0.8975 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 69.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WEC. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price target on WEC Energy Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Two analysts have 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. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.33.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total value 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. The trade was a 44.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company 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.