Redmond Asset Management LLC Invests $442,000 in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 4,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $442,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,405,000 after acquiring an additional 6,785 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at $1,392,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,538,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 51.0% in the third quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 10,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 453,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,689,000 after acquiring an additional 78,580 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.5 %

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $104.04 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $76.50 and a one year high of $104.98.

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

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.91%.

WEC Energy Group 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.