Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Has $21.90 Million Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 232,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,785 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $21,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $10,405,000 after buying an additional 6,785 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,392,000. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,538,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 51.0% in the third quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 10,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $103.10 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.50 and a 1 year high of $104.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.93. The company has a market cap of $32.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 69.15%.

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.