Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Acquires 86,154 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 364.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 86,154 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $10,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 134.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,038,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329,574 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $188,879,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $462,276,000 after acquiring an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,421,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,972,553 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $185,499,000 after acquiring an additional 387,178 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.38.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock traded down $1.22 on Friday, reaching $107.69. 2,077,779 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,147,767. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $77.47 and a one year high of $111.00. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $106.38 and a 200 day moving average of $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 (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The business's revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $0.8975 dividend. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.91%.

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.