Metis Global Partners LLC Has $2.18 Million Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 15.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,008 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised 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. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $153,372,000 after purchasing an additional 206,637 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 61,019 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.7% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,355,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $106,385,000 after purchasing an additional 22,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 9.2% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,320,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $108,458,000 after purchasing an additional 111,254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. This represents a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at $716,208.98. The trade was a 43.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $97.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $96.15 and its 200 day moving average is $88.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $31.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $100.31.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

WEC Energy Group Profile

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.