WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Shares Acquired by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 160.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 943,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 581,748 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $98,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,945,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,162,348,000 after purchasing an additional 816,243 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,594,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $892,020,000 after purchasing an additional 235,653 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 34.9% during the first 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,103,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $556,191,000 after buying an additional 726,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,274,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $466,451,000 after buying an additional 33,810 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. Mizuho set a $125.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $131.00 target price on WEC Energy Group in a report on Monday, October 27th. Citigroup initiated coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.21.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $105.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.21. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.94 and a 1-year high of $118.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $34.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.56.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter. On average, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $0.9525 dividend. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.49%.

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.