WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Purchased by Claro Advisors LLC

Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $97.98 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $100.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.34. 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 (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,208.98. The trade was a 43.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. This represents a 46.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

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.