WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Holdings Lifted by First American Bank

First American Bank lifted its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. First American Bank’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC opened at $105.75 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.78 and a 1-year high of $106.75. The company has a market cap of $33.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $98.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.81.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 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.