CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. Raises Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 7.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 257.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 11,664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 8,398 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $937,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 108.5% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 2,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. Scotiabank upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $99.30 on Wednesday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $96.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.77. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $102.79. The firm has a market cap of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.49.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results 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 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About WEC Energy Group

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.