William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. Acquires Shares of 398 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 324.9% in the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 28,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 21,758 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 38,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,282,000 after purchasing an additional 5,994 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 789.0% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 125,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,283,000 after purchasing an additional 111,134 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at about $7,116,000. Finally, Financial Planning & Information Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Financial Planning & Information Services Inc. now owns 70,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,937,000 after purchasing an additional 9,918 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.69.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $96.18 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $91.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.55.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its 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. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.