Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Grows Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth $45,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 140.8% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WEC. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $103.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $32.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $99.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.38. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.47 and a 12 month high of $108.87.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued 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 business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

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.