Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Acquires 8,751 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 238.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,751 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.1 %

WEC opened at $95.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $97.68 and its 200 day moving average is $90.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The business 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 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction 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 approximately $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. 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. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WEC. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on 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. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America raised shares of 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 report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.91.

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.