WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Director Sells 40,269 Shares

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $100.66 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $101.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.88. The company has a market capitalization of $31.84 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2,949.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 232,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,204,000 after purchasing an additional 224,410 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,047,000 after buying an additional 7,646 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 35.0% in the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 29,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,310,000 after buying an additional 7,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 359.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 115,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,453,000 after buying an additional 90,062 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WEC. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.45.

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.