WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Acquired by Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,405,000 after purchasing an additional 6,785 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth $1,392,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $1,538,000. Finally, Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 51.0% in the third quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after buying an additional 10,126 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $99.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $96.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.13. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’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 Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WEC. 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 note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of 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 shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of 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. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average 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.