PFW Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 11,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,073,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of WEC traded up $0.44 on Monday, reaching $93.85. 1,668,677 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,796,836. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $102.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $96.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.62.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.8925 per share. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 87.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the transaction, the director now 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 sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on 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 WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.40.

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.