UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 268,680 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lessened its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 17.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,315,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 268,680 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $126,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,193,000 after buying an additional 4,205 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth approximately $1,392,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2,949.7% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 232,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,204,000 after purchasing an additional 224,410 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,047,000 after purchasing an additional 7,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 35.0% in the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 29,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,310,000 after purchasing an additional 7,640 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $101.05 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $97.33 and its 200 day moving average is $89.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79.

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

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 81.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WEC. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on 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, Barclays raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

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.