Baird Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 249,716 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,348 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of WEC Energy Group worth $23,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,980 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $66,450,000 after acquiring an additional 6,583 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,276,000 after acquiring an additional 699,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,443 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group 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 value of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $119,795.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE WEC opened at $108.88 on Tuesday. 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 one year low of $77.47 and a one year high of $111.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The company 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 revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current 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 an increase from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.38.

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.

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