Forsta AP Fonden Raises Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 17.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $8,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at about $1,390,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,328,000 after purchasing an additional 688,812 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 462,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,267,000 after purchasing an additional 30,508 shares in the last quarter. South Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. South Street Advisors LLC now owns 172,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,526,000 after purchasing an additional 3,322 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 477,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,470,000 after buying an additional 20,785 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,932.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,932.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.17.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $95.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $88.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.33. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $96.15.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.93%.

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.