Oxbow Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 2,553 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Oxbow Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,553 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $278,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 worth $1,038,931,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329,574 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 110,802 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $538,112,000 after purchasing an additional 173,006 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,212,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $396,114,000 after purchasing an additional 309,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $289,470.22. This represents a 44.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $105.49 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $33.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.44. 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 moving average price of $105.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.96. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.47 and a twelve month high of $111.00.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.95%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.8975 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.59%.

WEC Energy Group 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.

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