Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Raises Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 238.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,751 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WEC. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.91.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $95.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $30.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $97.68 and a 200 day moving average of $90.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.66%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders 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 Company 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.