Wright Investors Service Inc. Makes New Investment in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Wright Investors Service Inc. bought a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $813,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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 price target for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.67.

Insider Activity

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at $213,335.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,335.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,796.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.9 %

WEC traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $95.48. 1,460,839 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,152,547. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $97.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.95. 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 (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.