Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Grows Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 46.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,434 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 2,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 20.7% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 10,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock opened at $104.04 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $97.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.39. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.50 and a 12-month high of $104.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $32.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WEC. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

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.