Scott J. Lauber Sells 1,500 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (WEC) Stock

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) VP Scott J. Lauber sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $97,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE WEC) traded up 0.28% during trading on Friday, hitting $65.10. 1,259,059 shares of the stock traded hands. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.46. The firm has a market cap of $20.54 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34 and a beta of 0.11. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.66 and a 12 month high of $65.47.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.05. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 10.75%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post $3.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.42%.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WEC. BidaskClub upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 9th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) restated a “sell” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (down from $59.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Monday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.86.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3,275.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 25,838,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,566,618,000 after buying an additional 25,073,593 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 362.0% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,195,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $134,737,000 after buying an additional 1,719,955 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2,687.2% in the second quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,200,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,674,000 after buying an additional 1,157,227 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,167,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,950,302,000 after buying an additional 1,085,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 70.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,514,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $91,849,000 after buying an additional 624,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.78% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Company Profile

WEC Energy Group, Inc was a diversified holding company with natural gas and electric utility operations, an approximately 60% equity ownership interest in American Transmission Company LLC, and non-utility electric operations through its We Power business, as of December 31, 2016. Its segments include Wisconsin; Illinois; Other States; Electric Transmission; We Power, and Corporate and Other.