Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Has $397,000 Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI raised its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.7% in 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 buying an additional 688,812 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 11.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,954,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,372,000 after acquiring an additional 206,637 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,782,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,889,000 after acquiring an additional 61,019 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,355,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $106,385,000 after purchasing an additional 22,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,320,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,458,000 after purchasing an additional 111,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WEC. Scotiabank lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price 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. Four investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $99.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a P/E/G 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for 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%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

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 value of $120,918.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,796.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at $129,796.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,208.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.