Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Invests $12.62 Million in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 134,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,616,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $453,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,223 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 worth $462,276,000 after acquiring an additional 699,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,765,000 after acquiring an additional 695,317 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WEC. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC stock opened at $103.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.79. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.50 and a 52 week high of $104.01. The stock has a market cap of $32.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.60.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.15%.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.