abrdn plc Boosts Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

abrdn plc increased its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 116,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 167 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $11,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,328,000 after buying an additional 688,812 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,748,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,557,000 after purchasing an additional 462,646 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 151.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 1st quarter worth $23,297,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,208.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This trade represents 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 quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $95.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.18. The stock has a market cap of $30.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $100.31.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

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.