Quantbot Technologies LP Makes New $2.94 Million Investment in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 31,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,936,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth about $188,879,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in 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 buying an additional 1,912,223 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 57.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,765,000 after buying an additional 695,317 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $106.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $102.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.52. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $110.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.