Virtu Financial LLC Makes New $1.43 Million Investment in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 18,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 65,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,136,000 after buying an additional 26,870 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 155.6% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 57,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,498,000 after acquiring an additional 34,901 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth approximately $365,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,117,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,713,000 after purchasing an additional 160,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $354,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WEC. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,208.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $95.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $96.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 72.93%.

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.