Clayton Financial Group LLC Has $246,000 Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 110,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,405,000 after purchasing an additional 6,785 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,538,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth $1,392,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after purchasing an additional 10,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 453,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,689,000 after purchasing an additional 78,580 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.00.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $99.30 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.89. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $102.79. The company has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.49. 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 (NYSE:WEC) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.66%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.