Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 6,182 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 23.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 32,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,182 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,805,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $643,696,000 after acquiring an additional 69,710 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,495,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $442,697,000 after acquiring an additional 158,652 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,295,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,021,000 after acquiring an additional 142,412 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,216,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,620,000 after acquiring an additional 155,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,354,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $270,179,000 after acquiring an additional 44,797 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WEC shares. Barclays decreased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.38.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE WEC opened at $81.56 on Monday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $98.80. The stock has a market cap of $25.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $79.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 14.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.15%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.