WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Purchased by Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc.

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have 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 worth $2,500,680,000 after acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $762,453,000 after acquiring an additional 105,580 shares during the period. 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 grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during 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 period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during 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 period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 2.9 %

WEC opened at $100.84 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $96.73 and a 200-day moving average of $93.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $31.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48.

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

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WEC. KeyCorp increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank increased 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. Finally, Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.40.

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.