AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 316,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,896 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of WEC Energy Group worth $24,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth $127,945,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 93.3% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,665,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,146,000 after purchasing an additional 803,718 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% during the 2nd 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 increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,557,000 after purchasing an additional 462,646 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $23,297,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. KeyCorp raised their target price 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, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,335.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,335.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $95.26 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $30.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $96.65. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 72.93%.

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.