Alta Capital Management LLC Acquires 623 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Alta Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the period. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WEC. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 1.0% in 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 buying an additional 69,710 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.0% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,495,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $442,697,000 after buying an additional 158,652 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,295,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,021,000 after buying an additional 142,412 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,216,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,620,000 after buying an additional 155,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,998,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $352,831,000 after buying an additional 131,280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.9 %

WEC traded down $0.72 during trading on Monday, hitting $81.40. 359,528 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,296,427. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.50 and a 200 day moving average of $81.70. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $99.26.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $78.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.