HB Wealth Management LLC Acquires 3,423 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 83.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,423 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 105,580 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position 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. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $362,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,223 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were 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 directly 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 have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock 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 raised their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of WEC opened at $100.23 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 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.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business 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 $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.29%.

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.