Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Takes Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 161,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,197,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3,828.6% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 140.8% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on WEC. 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective 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 given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $107.83 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.39. The company has a market cap of $34.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.47 and a fifty-two week high of $110.19. 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 (NYSE:WEC) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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