B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Acquires Shares of 129,295 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 129,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,436,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $201,328,000 after purchasing an additional 688,812 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 11.8% during 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 last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,782,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $139,889,000 after buying an additional 61,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.7% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,355,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $106,385,000 after buying an additional 22,026 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of WEC opened at $99.28 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.45. The company has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $100.31.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at $716,208.98. This trade represents a 43.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The trade was a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WEC. Barclays increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.