Hsbc Holdings PLC Has $57 Million Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 22.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 606,764 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 110,786 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.19% of WEC Energy Group worth $56,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,221,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $114,886,000 after buying an additional 5,267 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 130.7% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,059 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 364.6% during the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 109,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,324,000 after acquiring an additional 86,154 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 196,880 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $18,515,000 after purchasing an additional 3,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 83,727 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm's 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 owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.38.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $109.11. 1,048,426 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,141,467. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.47 and a 1-year high of $111.00. The business's 50 day moving average price is $106.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.8975 per share. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is currently 73.91%.

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.