Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Buys 177,697 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1,184.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 192,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 177,697 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $22,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,945,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,162,348,000 after acquiring an additional 816,243 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 324.1% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 774,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,722,000 after purchasing an additional 592,028 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 160.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 943,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $98,361,000 after purchasing an additional 581,748 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $57,028,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,362,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of WEC stock opened at $110.74 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.37 and a twelve month high of $118.18. The stock has a market cap of $36.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $107.07 and a 200 day moving average of $109.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $0.9525 dividend. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 67.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $127.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $129.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group set a $116.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.33.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based regulated energy holding company whose primary businesses are the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and the distribution of natural gas. The company operates through a set of utility subsidiaries that provide bundled energy service, customer billing and energy-related programs to residential, commercial and industrial customers. As a regulated utility group, WEC’s operations focus on delivering reliable service while managing infrastructure investment and compliance with state and federal utility regulation.

Its utility subsidiaries include well-known regional operators such as We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, along with Chicago-area natural gas utilities that were part of the Integrys Energy Group acquisition.