Heartland Bank & Trust Co Takes Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% during the fourth 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $188,879,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 12,777.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,834,024 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $199,872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,782 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3,815.2% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,471,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $138,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,522 shares during the period. Finally, Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,970,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total transaction of $232,244.35. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $289,470.22. This represents a 44.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $104.05. 3,183,330 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,142,062. The company has a market cap of $33.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.97. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.47 and a fifty-two week high of $111.00.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.8975 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.13.

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.