Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $5,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started 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 objective on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $101.05 on Monday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $97.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.49. The company has a market cap of $31.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79.

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

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

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.