Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Buys 4,249 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 489,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,249 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $45,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position 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 valued at $453,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691,017 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,912,223 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,765,000 after purchasing an additional 695,317 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $104.89 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $33.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $97.96 and its 200 day moving average is $96.56. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.50 and a twelve month high of $105.29.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 73.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank upped 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. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised 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. Finally, Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

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.