PFW Advisors LLC Invests $1.07 Million in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,073,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $762,453,000 after buying an additional 105,580 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,276,000 after acquiring an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in 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 worth $453,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $362,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:WEC traded up $0.44 on Monday, hitting $93.85. 1,668,677 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,796,836. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $96.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $29.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.