WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Acquired by Annex Advisory Services LLC

Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,785 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $10,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,205 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth $1,392,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at $1,538,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 51.0% during the third quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after purchasing an additional 10,126 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,047,000 after purchasing an additional 7,646 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of WEC opened at $99.18 on Monday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $102.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $96.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued 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 net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business 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 earned $1.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.