Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,117,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 160,128 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.35% of WEC Energy Group worth $87,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 324.5% during the 4th quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 39,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,304,000 after buying an additional 30,009 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 324.9% in the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 28,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 21,758 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 38,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,282,000 after buying an additional 5,994 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 789.0% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 125,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,283,000 after buying an additional 111,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,116,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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. In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $213,335.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WEC. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of 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. KeyCorp raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.31.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of WEC opened at $94.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $96.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.15.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.