Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. Buys New Shares in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.2% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in 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. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park National Corp OH boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC Energy Group stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $95.79. The stock had a trading volume of 30,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,105,097. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $97.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.28. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $102.79. The stock has a market cap of $30.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 87.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.91.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.