LWS Wealth Advisors Inc. Takes Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

LWS Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 2,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $983,000. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 582,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,022,000 after purchasing an additional 131,797 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 316,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,391,000 after purchasing an additional 19,867 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 428,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,059,000 after purchasing an additional 14,084 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 72.6% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 129,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,933,000 after buying an additional 54,623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE WEC traded down $1.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $80.67. 4,504,766 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,135,167. The stock has a market cap of $25.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.63. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $93.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.07. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEC has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.