AdvisorNet Financial Inc Raises Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 59.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park National Corp OH lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp upped their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock opened at $98.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $96.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.86. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 81.66%.

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.