CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Acquires Shares of 2,174 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 51.4% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 152,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,931,000 after acquiring an additional 51,603 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 316,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,746,000 after purchasing an additional 8,896 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at $205,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at $1,802,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 35.9% during the 2nd quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 8,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 2,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $98.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $96.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 81.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WEC. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, 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. One research 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 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.