Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 2,680 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 23.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,680 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Robbins Farley purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 20.7% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $103.10 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $97.05 and a 200 day moving average of $95.86. The company has a market cap of $32.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.50 and a 12-month high of $104.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WEC. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

Insider Activity

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.