Bruce & Co. Inc. Invests $354,000 in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Bruce & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 4,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $95.85 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.42. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $96.15. The company has a market cap of $30.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The business’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,208.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp dropped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target 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, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.17.

WEC Energy Group 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.