FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Trims Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH reduced its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 91.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 31,417 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 34,519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,083,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $617,000. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 16,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total transaction of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,932.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total transaction of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,932.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock opened at $94.86 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $95.41. The company has a market cap of $29.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.75 and a 200 day moving average of $82.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 72.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.77.

WEC Energy Group 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.