WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Position Increased by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 358.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 430,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 336,739 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.14% of WEC Energy Group worth $40,504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $756,423,000 after buying an additional 110,802 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 valued at $462,276,000 after buying an additional 699,177 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.9% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.8 %

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $108.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $34.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.47 and a 1 year high of $111.00. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $105.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.8975 dividend. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.

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