Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Robbins Farley purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WEC stock opened at $103.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $96.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.65. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.50 and a twelve month high of $104.01. The company has a market capitalization of $32.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced 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). WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 69.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on WEC. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp lifted 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. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

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.