Isthmus Partners LLC Takes Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 2,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $101.05 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $97.33 and a 200-day moving average of $89.42. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $102.79. 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 company has a market capitalization of $31.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.44.

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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WEC. Bank of America boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

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.