Insider Selling: WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Director Sells 1,805 Shares of Stock

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of WEC stock opened at $100.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a PEG 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.72. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $101.00.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,680,000 after buying an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after buying an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,971,000 after buying an additional 1,912,223 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 57.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,765,000 after purchasing an additional 695,317 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 36.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,566,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,328,000 after purchasing an additional 688,812 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

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.