Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Purchases 3,662 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 93,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,662 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $8,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Robbins Farley purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction 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 approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’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 value of $4,009,181.64. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock opened at $101.00 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $31.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $96.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.89. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 81.66%.

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.