Castellan Group Makes New Investment in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Castellan Group bought a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 38,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,617,000. WEC Energy Group accounts for approximately 1.6% of Castellan Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. CWM LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 8,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $843,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $295,000. Creative Planning grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 57,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WEC. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp boosted 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. 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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, 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $102.47 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $96.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79. The stock has a market cap of $32.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.15%.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.