Natixis Advisors LLC Has $27.80 Million Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 295,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,773 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $27,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $619,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $373,000. Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 9,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 26,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,527,000 after purchasing an additional 3,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WEC opened at $107.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $101.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.16. 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 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $110.19. The company has a market cap of $33.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS 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.