Beck Bode LLC Purchases New Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Beck Bode LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 148,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,633,000. WEC Energy Group makes up approximately 2.3% of Beck Bode LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 25,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth about $218,000. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 9.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 9,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. KeyCorp raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.42.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $95.74 on Wednesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $96.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.66.

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

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 72.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at $129,796.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of WEC Energy Group 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.