Heartland Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Heartland Advisors Inc. decreased its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 118,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,104 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $11,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $453,794,000 after buying an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at $188,879,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 57.7% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 695,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 897.4% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 568,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,694,000 after buying an additional 511,618 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $106.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $103.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.81. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $110.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $33.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 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 business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on WEC shares. StockNews.com cut 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 WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.