Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Grows Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 152,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,405 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $11,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 22.9% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 899,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,543,000 after purchasing an additional 167,340 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 127,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,017,000 after acquiring an additional 2,701 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.3% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 501,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,379,000 after acquiring an additional 16,026 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 4.7% during the second quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 3,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on WEC. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.31.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of WEC opened at $95.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $30.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $90.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.06. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $96.65.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its 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 net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.93%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,208.98. The sale 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now directly 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 90 days, insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.