Alta Capital Management LLC Acquires 3,262 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Alta Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,262 shares during the period. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $3,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,863,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,350,000 after purchasing an additional 87,711 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 33,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,433 shares during the last quarter. HFR Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. HFR Wealth Management LLC now owns 100,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,437,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 43,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,097,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 10,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 3,181 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $108.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $34.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.47 and a fifty-two week high of $108.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.17.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. Analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

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.