Verity & Verity LLC Acquires New Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Verity & Verity LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 109,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,272,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 63.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 24,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,941,000 after buying an additional 9,590 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,117,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,713,000 after acquiring an additional 160,128 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 25,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,015,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 549,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,104,000 after acquiring an additional 32,395 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of WEC stock opened at $99.18 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $96.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WEC. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group 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.