Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Boosts Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 60.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,778 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 9,676 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of WEC traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.55. 1,418,852 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,770,106. The firm's fifty day moving average is $96.56 and its 200-day moving average is $92.84. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $102.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 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.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 87.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus 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.