WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Purchased by OLD Republic International Corp

OLD Republic International Corp grew its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 336,279 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,948 shares during the quarter. OLD Republic International Corp owned about 0.11% of WEC Energy Group worth $36,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,038,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329,574 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 12,777.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,834,024 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $199,872,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819,782 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3,815.2% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,471,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $138,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,522 shares during the last quarter. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,970,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,935,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $370,128,000 after purchasing an additional 526,014 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on WEC. Barclays raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.33.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock traded down $1.16 on Tuesday, reaching $103.15. The company had a trading volume of 444,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,141,311. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.47 and a 1 year high of $111.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company's fifty day moving average is $105.85 and its 200 day moving average is $103.69. The company has a market cap of $32.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.44.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 2,686 shares in the company, valued at $289,470.22. This represents a 44.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.