WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Purchased by Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 51.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,126 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NFJ Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 23.7% during the third quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 144,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,880,000 after acquiring an additional 27,633 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 15,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 3,942 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 48.1% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 10,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 13.0% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 100,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,681,000 after buying an additional 11,593 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $98.21 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.68. 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 market cap of $31.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.45.

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.