WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Acquired by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,515 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $837,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Balentine LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.7% during the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 3,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $828,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mcdonald Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.7% during the third quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 5,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,402,131.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.29.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $83.22 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $96.17. The company has a market cap of $26.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $80.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.07. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

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.