WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Holdings Increased by Strategy Asset Managers LLC

Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,328,000 after buying an additional 688,812 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 36.0% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,557,000 after buying an additional 462,646 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 151.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 583,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,168,000 after acquiring an additional 351,972 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 10,220.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 303,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,192,000 after acquiring an additional 300,574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WEC shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $99.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $31.40 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $100.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $96.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.64.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 81.66%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,208.98. This trade represents a 43.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,045 shares of company stock valued at $1,038,807. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.