Annex Advisory Services LLC Buys 6,785 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,785 shares during the quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $10,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on WEC. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $99.18 on Monday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.15. The stock has a market cap of $31.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

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.