Essex Savings Bank Makes New $211,000 Investment in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Essex Savings Bank purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 7.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,392,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after buying an additional 10,126 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,538,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,047,000 after acquiring an additional 7,646 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $98.46 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $102.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.66%.

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.