WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Stake Boosted by Axxcess Wealth Management LLC

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 72.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,162 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2,122.2% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 441,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,170,000 after buying an additional 421,731 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 184,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,547,000 after buying an additional 29,086 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 58,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,910,000 after acquiring an additional 3,648 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 13th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.29.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $84.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $26.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.40. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $95.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.43.

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

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

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.