WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Stake Increased by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 606,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 110,786 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.19% of WEC Energy Group worth $56,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 14,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm’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 value of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.38.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $108.96 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $111.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $34.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $106.29 and its 200-day moving average is $100.54.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.8975 per share. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 73.91%.

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.