Global Retirement Partners LLC Increases Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 709 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,405,000 after acquiring an additional 6,785 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,392,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,538,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 10,126 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 453,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,689,000 after acquiring an additional 78,580 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.0 %

WEC opened at $103.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.22. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.50 and a 52 week high of $104.15. The company has a market capitalization of $32.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.49. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 73.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

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.