Country Trust Bank Raises Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Country Trust Bank grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 14.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 324,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,841 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank owned about 0.10% of WEC Energy Group worth $31,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 15,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,320,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 573,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,278,000 after buying an additional 177,805 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,051,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 96.2% in the 4th quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 8,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 3,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Planning & Information Services Inc. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Financial Planning & Information Services Inc. now owns 70,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,937,000 after acquiring an additional 9,918 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. This represents 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 William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $94.35 on Wednesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $97.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.08. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $29.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released 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. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on WEC shares. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.92.

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.