5,205 Shares in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Bought by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $501,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $95.86 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.24. 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 (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WEC. Barclays lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.91.

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.