235,404 Shares in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Acquired by Linden Advisors LP

Linden Advisors LP acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 235,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $24,529,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.1% during the second 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,594,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $892,020,000 after purchasing an additional 235,653 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,274,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $466,451,000 after purchasing an additional 33,810 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,003,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $436,298,000 after purchasing an additional 188,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,709,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,308,000 after buying an additional 189,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC opened at $103.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $33.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.56. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.94 and a 12 month high of $118.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.12.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.75%.The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $0.9525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 72.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $129.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $131.00 price target on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Monday, October 27th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $123.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

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.