Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Acquires New Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 17,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,653,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in 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 worth $201,328,000 after buying an additional 688,812 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,557,000 after acquiring an additional 462,646 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 151.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 583,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,168,000 after acquiring an additional 351,972 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 10,220.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 303,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,192,000 after acquiring an additional 300,574 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth approximately $23,297,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $95.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.94. The company has a market capitalization of $30.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $100.31. 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 (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related 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 directly owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. 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 is accessible through this link. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at $716,208.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.