Teza Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 134.2% during 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 buying an additional 6,329,574 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $188,879,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3,815.2% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,471,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,522 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,935,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,128,000 after purchasing an additional 526,014 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $107.28 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $106.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.83. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.47 and a 12 month high of $111.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.97 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.8975 per share. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WEC. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.13.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.