Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Buys 1,692 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $5,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3,828.6% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 140.8% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WEC. KeyCorp boosted their target price 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. 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. StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC opened at $106.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.47 and a 12-month high of $110.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.