US Bancorp DE Increases Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 335,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,471 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned about 0.11% of WEC Energy Group worth $34,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth $25,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth $26,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Five equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.20.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $115.07 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $91.94 and a one year high of $115.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $109.95 and a 200 day moving average of $107.66. The company has a market capitalization of $37.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%.The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, EVP Molly A. Mulroy sold 4,030 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.33, for a total value of $444,629.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,113.57. This trade represents a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 9,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.88, for a total value of $1,023,533.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 56,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,258,399.84. The trade was a 14.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,448 shares of company stock worth $7,581,132 in the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is currently 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.