Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,008,493 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $188,879,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.63% of WEC Energy Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,500,680,000 after acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $453,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691,017 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $362,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 57.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $182,765,000 after purchasing an additional 695,317 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank boosted 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp boosted 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. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC traded up $3.09 on Friday, reaching $106.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,884,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,281,444. The stock's 50-day moving average is $100.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $108.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.