Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 151.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 583,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 351,972 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.18% of WEC Energy Group worth $56,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,639,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth $487,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at $72,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 11.8% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 147,650 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,125,000 after acquiring an additional 15,546 shares during the period. Finally, Thrive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth about $263,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.
WEC has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group began 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. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.45.
View Our Latest Report on WEC
WEC Energy Group stock opened at $98.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $94.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.43. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $100.31. The stock has a market cap of $31.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.44.
WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is presently 77.14%.
In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total transaction of $66,337.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,876 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,934,932.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
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.
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