WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Acquired by NFJ Investment Group LLC

NFJ Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 144,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,633 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $13,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after buying an additional 4,205 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,392,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 2,949.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 224,410 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake 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 valued at $6,047,000 after acquiring an additional 7,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 35.0% in the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 29,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,310,000 after purchasing an additional 7,640 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC traded up $0.13 on Tuesday, hitting $99.79. The company had a trading volume of 93,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,125,259. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $102.79. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $97.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.49. The stock has a market cap of $31.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm’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 posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. Bank of America upped their price objective 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 boosted their target price on 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 started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.45.

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.