WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Bought by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 375,365 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,760 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC owned approximately 0.12% of WEC Energy Group worth $36,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 11.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,954,778 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $153,372,000 after purchasing an additional 206,637 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,782,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $139,889,000 after acquiring an additional 61,019 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter valued at $127,945,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,520,644 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $127,993,000 after buying an additional 199,288 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,934,932.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WEC. Scotiabank raised their target price on 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. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.73.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC traded up $1.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $95.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,766,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,064,188. The firm has a market cap of $30.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $97.08. The firm's 50 day moving average is $93.20 and its 200-day moving average is $85.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is 77.14%.

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.