Stifel Financial Corp Grows Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,221,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,267 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.39% of WEC Energy Group worth $114,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WEC. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,027,000 after buying an additional 2,845 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 238.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 12,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,195,000 after buying an additional 8,751 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,980 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 56.6% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 6,523 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 2,358 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of 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, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.38.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of WEC stock traded down $1.22 on Friday, reaching $107.69. 2,077,779 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,147,767. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business's 50 day moving average price is $106.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.72. The company has a market capitalization of $34.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.47 and a twelve month high of $111.00.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.8975 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is presently 73.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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.