WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Purchased by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 54.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,419 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,818 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 134.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,038,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329,574 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $756,423,000 after acquiring an additional 110,802 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake 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 valued at $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,212,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $396,114,000 after buying an additional 309,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,863,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $363,350,000 after buying an additional 87,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on WEC. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.38.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock traded up $0.86 on Friday, hitting $108.22. 1,571,660 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,150,901. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $111.00. The firm's 50-day moving average is $105.86 and its 200 day moving average is $100.18. The stock has a market cap of $34.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a PEG 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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 paid a $0.8975 dividend. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the business'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 $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.

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.