WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Purchased by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 8.3% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 8,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $843,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter valued at about $295,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 4.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 57,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 22.2% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC opened at $102.47 on Thursday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $96.72 and a 200-day moving average of $95.55.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 69.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

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

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.