JGP Wealth Management LLC Acquires 3,183 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 83,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,183 shares during the quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $7,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5,257.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,465,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,768 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 563.3% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,320,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $131,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,075 shares during the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 5,316,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $469,157,000 after purchasing an additional 772,372 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 131.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 861,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,379,000 after purchasing an additional 488,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,678,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $78.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho reduced their target price on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.17.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $81.02. 2,373,123 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,386,905. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $79.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $99.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.40.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 79.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,402,131.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.