Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Purchases New Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 17,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,653,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WEC. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,328,000 after acquiring an additional 688,812 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.0% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $143,557,000 after purchasing an additional 462,646 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 151.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 583,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,168,000 after purchasing an additional 351,972 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 10,220.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 303,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,192,000 after purchasing an additional 300,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter worth $23,297,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $97.19 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $95.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $100.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the 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 directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $66,337.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,932.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.