Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 22.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 47,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,495 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $4,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.3% in 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. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 3.0 %

WEC opened at $98.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $102.79. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $96.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.86.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

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.