Wealth Alliance Raises Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC opened at $95.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $96.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $89.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 72.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WEC. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $120,918.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is owned by 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.