Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Reduces Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 47.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 59,539 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $5,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,402,131.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,402,131.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WEC. KeyCorp upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.29.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock traded down $1.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $80.96. 1,241,050 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,099,563. The company has a market cap of $25.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.96 and its 200 day moving average is $81.63. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $93.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

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.