Drake & Associates LLC Decreases Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Drake & Associates LLC lessened its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 16.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,384 shares during the quarter. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,038,931,000 after buying an additional 6,329,574 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $756,423,000 after purchasing an additional 110,802 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $538,112,000 after acquiring an additional 173,006 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,212,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $396,114,000 after acquiring an additional 309,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,935,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,128,000 after acquiring an additional 526,014 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total transaction of $232,244.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $289,470.22. This represents a 44.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $104.50 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.47 and a 12 month high of $111.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.97 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.8975 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WEC. Wall Street Zen raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 29th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.33.

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.