3,070 Shares in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Bought by Crews Bank & Trust

Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth about $216,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth about $2,633,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 21,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $99.52 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79. The company has a market capitalization of $31.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.28. 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 (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WEC. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.