Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Grows Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 375,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,760 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC owned 0.12% of WEC Energy Group worth $36,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $127,945,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,328,000 after purchasing an additional 688,812 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.0% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,557,000 after purchasing an additional 462,646 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at $23,297,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $20,431,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.73.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC traded up $1.50 on Friday, hitting $95.45. 1,766,585 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,064,188. The firm has a market cap of $30.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $97.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.42.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 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 the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,796.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,796.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total transaction of $66,337.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,932.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company 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.