WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Bought by Stablepoint Partners LLC

Stablepoint Partners LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 34.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,748 shares during the quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park National Corp OH lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $98.02 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.87. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $102.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.