Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,825,595 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 122,604 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.58% of WEC Energy Group worth $171,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3,828.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 140.8% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,305 shares of company stock valued at $3,067,540 in the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WEC. 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 upgraded WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given 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 $107.13.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE WEC traded up $1.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $106.82. 1,838,006 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,146,517. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.47 and a 12-month high of $111.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $106.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.05. 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 (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. WEC Energy Group's revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.97 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $0.8975 dividend. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is currently 69.59%.

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.