HFR Wealth Management LLC Has $9.44 Million Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

HFR Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 100,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 411 shares during the quarter. WEC Energy Group comprises about 2.3% of HFR Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. HFR Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $9,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WEC. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock opened at $108.39 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.47 and a 12 month high of $108.43. The firm has a market cap of $34.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.17.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About WEC Energy Group

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.