Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 7,764 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 377,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,764 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.12% of WEC Energy Group worth $31,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WEC. Northcape Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $465,000. Vantage Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $461,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,485,000. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 23,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WEC. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 value of $223,258.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,402,131.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $83.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $26.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $80.94 and its 200 day moving average is $81.43. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $95.95.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business’s revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.