Longboard Asset Management LP Buys Shares of 2,177 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 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. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $99.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.9 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.00.

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.