JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 726,267 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 16.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,103,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 726,267 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 1.60% of WEC Energy Group worth $556,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 12,777.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,834,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $199,872,000 after buying an additional 1,819,782 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in 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 worth $138,342,000 after buying an additional 1,433,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,213,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $567,727,000 after buying an additional 1,349,522 shares during the period. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth about $53,970,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $370,128,000 after buying an additional 526,014 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE WEC opened at $109.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $35.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.89. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $87.71 and a one year high of $111.90.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.39%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 5,930 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.14, for a total value of $659,060.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $734,190.84. The trade was a 47.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 4,177 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.30, for a total transaction of $460,723.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $193,797.10. The trade was a 70.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,372 shares of company stock worth $6,789,843. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $115.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.40.

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.