Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Increases Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 494.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 82,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 68,866 shares during the quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $7,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 7.0% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,405,000 after purchasing an additional 6,785 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,392,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,538,000. Finally, Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 51.0% in the third quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,883,000 after buying an additional 10,126 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $98.02 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $31.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.73 and a 200 day moving average of $93.98. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $102.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

About WEC Energy Group

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.