JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 16.6%, acquiring an additional 726,267 shares, bringing its total ownership to over 5.1 million shares valued at approximately $556 million.
• WEC Energy Group recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.76, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $2.01 billion, marking a 13.4% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a dividend cut, declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.8925, which equates to an annualized yield of 3.3% and a payout ratio of 68.39%.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 16.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,103,604 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 726,267 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 1.60% of WEC Energy Group worth $556,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $538,112,000 after purchasing an additional 173,006 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 34.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,213,304 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $567,727,000 after buying an additional 1,349,522 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,935,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $370,128,000 after buying an additional 526,014 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,815,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $358,801,000 after buying an additional 141,393 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 20.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,519,401 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $274,564,000 after buying an additional 430,269 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of WEC traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $109.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,698,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,090,985. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.14 and a 1 year high of $111.90. The firm has a market cap of $35.38 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock's 50 day moving average is $106.50 and its 200 day moving average is $105.95.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm's revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.73, for a total transaction of $3,875,550.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 274,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,447,317.37. This trade represents a 11.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 5,930 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.14, for a total transaction of $659,060.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,606 shares in the company, valued at $734,190.84. This trade represents a 47.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,603 shares of company stock worth $7,813,377 over the last ninety days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank set a $115.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.40.

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.