Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Increases Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 489,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,249 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL owned about 0.15% of WEC Energy Group worth $45,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,261,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $212,691,000 after acquiring an additional 46,609 shares during the period. CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 12,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 9,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $104.89 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.50 and a 52 week high of $105.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $33.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 73.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

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.