Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Raises Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,697 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $6,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 82,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,798,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 46.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 65,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,198,000 after acquiring an additional 20,918 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013 shares during the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 5,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $148,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % 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 valued at $4,866,579 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $99.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average is $96.76 and its 200 day moving average is $94.13. The stock has a market cap of $31.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week 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 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 firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. 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 research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.40.

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.