Zions Bancorporation N.A. Boosts Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,915 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 706 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $3,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 17.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 264.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 132,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,787,000 after purchasing an additional 96,515 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 11.5% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 38,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,703,000 after buying an additional 3,980 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth approximately $1,392,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.9% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.88.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, 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 value of $119,795.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. This represents 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 Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $105.85 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a PEG 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). 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%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect 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.