KLCM Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

KLCM Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,267 shares during the quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $3,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,500,680,000 after acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in 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. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in 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. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 695,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased 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 issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $103.10 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $32.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.50 and a fifty-two week high of $104.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $97.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.86.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted 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). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 69.15%.

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.