Flputnam Investment Management Co. Raises Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,632 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 4,449 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,952,851 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $762,453,000 after purchasing an additional 105,580 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $453,794,000 after buying an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $362,971,000 after buying an additional 1,912,223 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 the firm's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.9 %

WEC Energy Group stock traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $104.58. 2,179,552 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,235,261. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $99.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.28. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.47 and a twelve month high of $108.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective 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. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $101.88.

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.