WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Acquired by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 34.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 162,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,628 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.05% of WEC Energy Group worth $15,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,038,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329,574 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $756,423,000 after purchasing an additional 110,802 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,863,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,350,000 after purchasing an additional 87,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,261,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $212,691,000 after purchasing an additional 46,609 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $105.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.66 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $111.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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

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.