Blue Chip Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Blue Chip Partners LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 286 shares during the quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 20.7% in 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 during the period. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 10,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.7 %

WEC opened at $103.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $32.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $97.05 and its 200-day moving average is $95.93. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $76.50 and a one year high of $104.01.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.835 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 69.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was 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 owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on WEC. BMO Capital Markets upped 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 increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.