Moors & Cabot Inc. Raises Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $762,453,000 after acquiring an additional 105,580 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 worth $462,276,000 after acquiring an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in 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 worth $453,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,863,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,350,000 after purchasing an additional 87,711 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $106.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.47 and a 1-year high of $110.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. StockNews.com cut 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 increased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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 stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.