Aigen Investment Management LP Makes New Investment in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP purchased 11,227 shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. for approximately $1,224,000, marking a significant investment in the company during the first quarter.
• The company's quarterly earnings report revealed earnings per share of $0.76, exceeding the consensus estimate, with revenue also up 13.4% year-over-year.
• WEC Energy Group announced a quarterly dividend of $0.8925 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 3.2%, while insiders have been actively selling shares recently.

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,227 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,224,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WEC. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 12,777.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,834,024 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $199,872,000 after buying an additional 1,819,782 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3,815.2% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,471,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $138,342,000 after buying an additional 1,433,522 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,213,304 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $567,727,000 after buying an additional 1,349,522 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,103,604 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $556,191,000 after buying an additional 726,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,970,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.2%

WEC traded down $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $109.46. 1,824,003 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,081,077. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.42 and a 200 day moving average of $105.92. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.14 and a 12-month high of $111.90.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is 68.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.73, for a total value of $3,875,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 274,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,447,317.37. This represents a 11.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 9,231 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.88, for a total transaction of $1,023,533.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 56,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,258,399.84. This trade represents a 14.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 70,603 shares of company stock worth $7,813,377. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WEC. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.40.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.