19,100 Shares in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 19,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,608,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WEC. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5,257.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,465,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,768 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 563.3% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,320,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $131,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,075 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 131.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 861,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,379,000 after acquiring an additional 488,917 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 153.0% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 678,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,677,000 after acquiring an additional 410,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CI Investments Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17,727.0% during the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 371,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,954,000 after acquiring an additional 369,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.38.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $81.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.34. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $98.80.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.15%.

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.