GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 1,843 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 118 shares during the period. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $93.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $96.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.79. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 87.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Profile

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.