Barclays PLC Grows Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 40.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 802,556 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 232,894 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.25% of WEC Energy Group worth $75,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,845 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 238.4% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 12,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,195,000 after acquiring an additional 8,751 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,980 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 56.6% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 6,523 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 2,358 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE WEC traded up $1.68 on Tuesday, reaching $108.64. 143,967 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,336,577. 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 current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business's fifty day moving average price is $105.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted 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 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 period last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 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 firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This 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 currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.38.

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.