Thomas Story & Son LLC Has $7.87 Million Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Thomas Story & Son LLC decreased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,055 shares during the quarter. WEC Energy Group comprises approximately 3.3% of Thomas Story & Son LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Thomas Story & Son LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $7,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Robbins Farley bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 20.7% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $101.82 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $32.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $96.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.21. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued 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 company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business 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 3.28%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of 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. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.