Wealthspire Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 327 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after buying an additional 4,691,017 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,971,000 after buying an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after acquiring an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,765,000 after acquiring an additional 695,317 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on WEC. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock opened at $106.07 on Wednesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.50 and a 1 year high of $106.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.69.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The company 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 earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 73.91%.

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.