Lantz Financial LLC Has $2.71 Million Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Lantz Financial LLC decreased its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 971 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $98.02 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently 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.