Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,551 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 97,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,551 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $7,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WEC shares. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,335.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,462 shares of company stock valued at $218,668 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of WEC traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.15. 74,151 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,174,089. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $93.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.81. The company has a market cap of $29.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.41.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 72.93%.

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.