Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 377,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,764 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $31,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5,257.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,465,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,015,000 after buying an additional 1,437,768 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 131.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 861,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,379,000 after purchasing an additional 488,917 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17,727.0% in the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 371,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,954,000 after purchasing an additional 369,786 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 8,801.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 261,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,035,000 after purchasing an additional 258,852 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 414,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,374,000 after purchasing an additional 195,025 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $83.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $80.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.43. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $95.95.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.93%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. KeyCorp upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.29.

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.