Financial Counselors Inc. Acquires 622 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 29.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WEC. Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 14,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,325,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WEC. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $107.50 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $103.59 and its 200 day moving average is $98.92. The stock has a market cap of $33.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $110.19. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group 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.