Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 123,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,565 shares during the quarter. WEC Energy Group accounts for about 1.1% of Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $11,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 11.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 24,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 206.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 29,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,882,000 after buying an additional 20,180 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,316,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 100,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,681,000 after acquiring an additional 11,593 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 48.1% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 10,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of WEC stock opened at $108.96 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $34.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.20. 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 $110.19.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced 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 for 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%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

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.