Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Makes New Investment in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.45.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. This represents a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,314 shares of company stock valued at $5,047,988 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $100.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $31.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.88. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $101.43.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

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.