West Family Investments Inc. Grows Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

West Family Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 898 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $391,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 140.8% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WEC shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $106.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $33.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.47 and a 52 week high of $108.87. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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

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.