Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 13,745 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,285 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 13,745 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $5,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $201,328,000 after buying an additional 688,812 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 462,646 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in 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 worth $56,168,000 after buying an additional 351,972 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 10,220.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 303,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,192,000 after buying an additional 300,574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction 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 46.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,314 shares of company stock valued at $5,047,988 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock traded down $0.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $100.66. 1,304,373 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,148,847. The company has a market capitalization of $31.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, 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 current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $96.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.72. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $101.43.

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

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently 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.