Woodline Partners LP Purchases New Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,998 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,787,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth $1,310,000. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 20,946 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $13,767,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 992.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 384,419 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $36,151,000 after acquiring an additional 349,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,040 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on 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 WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $115.00 target price on WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.13.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total value of $232,244.35. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $289,470.22. The trade was a 44.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.7%

WEC Energy Group stock traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $106.03. 1,641,435 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,143,312. The firm's 50 day moving average is $106.91 and its 200-day moving average is $102.26. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.47 and a fifty-two week high of $111.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The firm's revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.97 EPS. On average, analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.8975 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is currently 69.59%.

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.