BNP Paribas Financial Markets Raises Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 48.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 832,834 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 272,218 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.26% of WEC Energy Group worth $78,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,038,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329,574 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $756,423,000 after acquiring an additional 110,802 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,212,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $396,114,000 after acquiring an additional 309,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,863,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $363,350,000 after purchasing an additional 87,711 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays upped 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 report on Tuesday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $105.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $108.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. The business's fifty day moving average is $106.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.19. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.47 and a 1 year high of $111.00.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.8975 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This is a positive change 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%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.91%.

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.

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