WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Purchased by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,093 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $8,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.0% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,193,000 after buying an additional 4,205 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,392,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 10,126 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,047,000 after acquiring an additional 7,646 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2,949.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 232,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,204,000 after purchasing an additional 224,410 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.0 %

WEC stock opened at $97.11 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $30.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.09.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.