Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 8,762 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 93.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,762 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 134.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,038,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329,574 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,063,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $756,423,000 after buying an additional 110,802 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $538,112,000 after buying an additional 173,006 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,212,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $396,114,000 after acquiring an additional 309,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,935,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $370,128,000 after acquiring an additional 526,014 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WEC shares. Scotiabank set a $115.00 target price on WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned 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 target price of $106.33.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.2%

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $103.09 on Monday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $111.00. The company has a market cap of $32.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.27.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.97 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a $0.8975 dividend. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is 69.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total transaction of $232,244.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $289,470.22. The trade was a 44.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% 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.

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