Farringdon Capital Ltd. Purchases Shares of 9,400 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $884,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,881 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 14,090 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,325,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,222 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the company 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 given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction 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 $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE WEC traded up $1.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $108.58. 307,886 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,338,738. The company's fifty day moving average is $105.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.32. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $34.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. WEC Energy Group's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.8975 per share. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.91%.

WEC Energy Group 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.