ABC Arbitrage SA Purchases New Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 6,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $588,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after acquiring an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after buying an additional 4,691,017 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,971,000 after buying an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,765,000 after buying an additional 695,317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $103.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.50 and a twelve month high of $104.01.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Scotiabank upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by 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.