Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 642,778 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 34,526 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.20% of WEC Energy Group worth $70,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bowman & Co S.C. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,994 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 35,891 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,911,000 after buying an additional 1,755 shares during the period. Finally, First County Bank CT acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $216,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.13.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:WEC traded down $1.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $105.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,553,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,127,568. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $107.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.55. The company has a market capitalization of $33.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $77.47 and a one year high of $111.00.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total transaction of $232,244.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $289,470.22. The trade was a 44.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.