Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $938,000 Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 23.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,858 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 789.0% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 125,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,283,000 after purchasing an additional 111,134 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 139.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,529,000 after purchasing an additional 17,938 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 69.8% in the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 54,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,489,000 after buying an additional 22,478 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 385,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,643,000 after buying an additional 48,890 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total transaction of $66,337.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,932.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of WEC Energy Group 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 sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WEC opened at $99.85 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.07. The company has a market cap 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. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $99.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.00.

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.