HB Wealth Management LLC Acquires 3,423 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 83.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,512 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,423 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 16.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,117,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $87,713,000 after acquiring an additional 160,128 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 23.0% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 152,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,933,000 after acquiring an additional 28,405 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 48.1% during the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 17,438 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 5,667 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 10.0% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 45,840 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,597,000 after acquiring an additional 4,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 49.5% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 53,522 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,199,000 after acquiring an additional 17,717 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC stock traded down $2.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $97.66. 1,958,777 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,828,137. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79. The stock has a market cap of $30.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock's 50-day moving average is $96.70 and its 200 day moving average is $93.57.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank upped their target price 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. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.40.

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.