Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 40,735 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 17.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 275,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 40,735 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of WEC Energy Group worth $26,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. This represents a 46.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at $716,208.98. This trade represents a 43.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $99.28 on Tuesday. 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 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.44.

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

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

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.