CWS Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

CWS Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WEC shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC opened at $101.82 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $102.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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