WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Purchased by Scientech Research LLC

Scientech Research LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,210 shares during the quarter. Scientech Research LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 21,758 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,994 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 111,134 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth $7,116,000. Finally, Financial Planning & Information Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Financial Planning & Information Services Inc. now owns 70,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,937,000 after acquiring an additional 9,918 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $95.26 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $91.11 and a 200 day moving average of $84.41. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $96.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 72.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. KeyCorp increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.31.

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.