Graybill Wealth Management LTD. Buys New Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $70,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 113,927 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,714,000 after purchasing an additional 13,410 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $3,403,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $2,542,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 201,313 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $18,931,000 after buying an additional 4,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on WEC shares. Barclays raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE WEC traded up $0.33 during trading on Monday, hitting $105.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,399,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,242,983. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.46 and a 12 month high of $111.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company's 50-day moving average price is $105.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.96. The company has a market capitalization of $33.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.09. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.97 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.8975 per share. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.59%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total value of $232,244.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,686 shares in the company, valued at $289,470.22. This trade represents a 44.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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.