WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Purchased by Bridges Investment Management Inc.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 5.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 324.5% in the fourth quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 39,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,304,000 after purchasing an additional 30,009 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 37,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,162,000 after acquiring an additional 9,526 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 324.9% in the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 28,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 21,758 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 38,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,282,000 after acquiring an additional 5,994 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 789.0% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 125,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,283,000 after purchasing an additional 111,134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.31.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $94.72 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $89.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.95. The company has a market cap of $29.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $96.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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 the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.93%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total transaction of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total transaction of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,932.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 valued at $1,078,058. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.