Alta Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Alta Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,262 shares during the quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $3,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,405,000 after purchasing an additional 6,785 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,538,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,392,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 51.0% during the third quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after purchasing an additional 10,126 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 453,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,689,000 after purchasing an additional 78,580 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.6 %

WEC opened at $108.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.47 and a 1-year high of $108.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 73.91%.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.