WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Acquired by Summit Trail Advisors LLC

Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 46.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,500,680,000 after buying an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,223 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the third 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 grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 57.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 695,317 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.5 %

WEC stock opened at $102.72 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $96.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.41. The company has a market capitalization of $32.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $102.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 69.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.