Sanctuary Advisors LLC Acquires 11,949 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,949 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $9,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WEC. Barclays increased their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $96.91.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of WEC stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $95.74. 1,445,143 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,516,006. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79. The company's 50-day moving average price is $97.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.8925 per share. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm's 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

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.