Stephens Inc. AR Buys 1,257 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 34.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $201,328,000 after acquiring an additional 688,812 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,954,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,372,000 after acquiring an additional 206,637 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,782,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $139,889,000 after acquiring an additional 61,019 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,355,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $106,385,000 after acquiring an additional 22,026 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,320,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $108,458,000 after acquiring an additional 111,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,208.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE WEC opened at $96.01 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $100.31. The company has a market cap of $30.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $95.72 and its 200 day moving average is $87.56.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.