Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $12.13 Million Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 126,085 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 33,327 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $12,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% during the third 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $362,971,000 after buying an additional 1,912,223 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,954,778 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $153,372,000 after acquiring an additional 206,637 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $96.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was 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 $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $95.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,680,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,113,797. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $102.79. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $97.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $30.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released 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. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.8925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio 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.