WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 513,010 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 70,980 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.16% of WEC Energy Group worth $48,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.0% in the third 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 bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,392,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 10,126 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,538,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,047,000 after acquiring an additional 7,646 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WEC. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed 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 objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE WEC traded up $2.89 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $98.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,646,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,757,781. The business's 50 day moving average is $96.55 and its 200-day moving average is $92.86. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $102.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $31.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 for 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%. The company's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

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.