Aberdeen Group plc Buys 11,317 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,317 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $15,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $116.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.47. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $91.94 and a one year high of $117.20.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%. Analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 68.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 9,231 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.88, for a total value of $1,023,533.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 56,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,258,399.84. The trade was a 14.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Molly A. Mulroy sold 4,030 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.33, for a total value of $444,629.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,829 shares in the company, valued at $643,113.57. This trade represents a 40.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,448 shares of company stock worth $7,581,132. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.20.

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.