WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC cut its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,729 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $100.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The business’s fifty day moving average is $96.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.85. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $101.43.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on WEC shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The trade was a 43.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,314 shares of company stock worth $5,047,988. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.