Buckley Wealth Management LLC Buys 174 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Buckley Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Buckley Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $143,557,000 after buying an additional 462,646 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the first quarter worth about $23,297,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 26.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,283,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,494,000 after acquiring an additional 264,654 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at about $20,431,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WEC. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at $716,208.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC traded up $0.71 on Friday, hitting $99.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,059,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,114,289. The company has a market capitalization of $31.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.06, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.04. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $99.99.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. 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 3.35%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

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.