WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Purchased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,447 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,447 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 134.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,038,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329,574 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 110,802 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $538,112,000 after acquiring an additional 173,006 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,212,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $396,114,000 after acquiring an additional 309,697 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WEC. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price target on WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.13.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, 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 value of $2,715,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents 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 Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE WEC traded up $2.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $104.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,992,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,163,852. The company has a market capitalization of $33.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, 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 1-year low of $77.47 and a 1-year high of $111.00. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $106.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.53.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.97 earnings per share. 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.8975 dividend. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.59%.

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.