Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Has $248,000 Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,146,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 494.8% during the fourth quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 82,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,785,000 after buying an additional 68,866 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 15,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,504,000 after buying an additional 3,121 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Stablepoint Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 6,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $100.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $96.73 and its 200-day moving average is $93.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WEC. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.