Essex Financial Services Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,145 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Essex Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Robbins Farley acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 20.7% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $103.10 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.50 and a 12-month high of $104.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $96.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.65.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WEC. KeyCorp upped their price target 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 raised 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 note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.