Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Buys 871 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 4.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 871 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The trade was a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at $716,208.98. This trade represents a 43.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $97.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $100.31.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.