Friedenthal Financial Invests $50,000 in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,328,000 after buying an additional 688,812 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 11.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,954,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,372,000 after purchasing an additional 206,637 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,782,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $139,889,000 after purchasing an additional 61,019 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.7% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,355,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $106,385,000 after purchasing an additional 22,026 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,320,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,458,000 after purchasing an additional 111,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $99.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $31.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $94.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.04. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $99.99.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on 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 report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.00.

Insider Activity

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction 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 $340,712.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About WEC Energy Group

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.