Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Robbins Farley purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 20.7% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $103.10 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $96.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.65. The stock has a market cap of $32.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.50 and a fifty-two week high of $104.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 69.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEC has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $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.