Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,261 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 682 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3,828.6% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 140.8% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $104.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.53 and its 200 day moving average is $99.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.47 and a fifty-two week high of $111.00.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued 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 business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on WEC. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, 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 research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of WEC Energy Group 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 in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About WEC Energy Group

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.