ING Groep NV Acquires Shares of 6,441 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $619,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.0% during the 3rd 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. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 109,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,985,000 after buying an additional 17,807 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $18,204,000 after buying an additional 224,410 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 29,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,310,000 after buying an additional 7,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,646 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. This trade represents a 46.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at $716,208.98. This represents a 43.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $97.98 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $100.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $96.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.34.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given 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 3.41%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WEC. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

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.