Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 281 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 17.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 281 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.1% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 462,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,267,000 after buying an additional 30,508 shares during the period. South Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. South Street Advisors LLC now owns 172,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,526,000 after acquiring an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 477,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,470,000 after acquiring an additional 20,785 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $2,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,083,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Scotiabank raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.17.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $95.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.79 and a 200-day moving average of $83.20. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $96.15. The stock has a market cap of $30.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,932.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,932.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.