DAVENPORT & Co LLC Buys 12,665 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 55.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,665 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $3,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,038,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329,574 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $756,423,000 after buying an additional 110,802 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in 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 worth $538,112,000 after buying an additional 173,006 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,212,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $396,114,000 after acquiring an additional 309,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,935,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $370,128,000 after acquiring an additional 526,014 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price target on WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research 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 company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 2,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $289,470.22. This represents a 44.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE:WEC traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $104.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,033,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,151,025. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $105.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $77.47 and a one year 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.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a $0.8975 dividend. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.59%.

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.