Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Grows Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,015,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,562,000 after purchasing an additional 30,989 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,593,000. Oxford Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $505,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 106.2% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 37,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,694,000 after buying an additional 19,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $23,043,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.7 %

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $108.76 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $106.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.02. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.47 and a fifty-two week high of $111.00. The company has a market capitalization of $34.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.8975 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 73.91%.

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.