Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 1,808 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $170,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WEC. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3,828.6% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 140.8% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WEC. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. Barclays lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $115.00 target price on WEC Energy Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.13.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $107.65 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $107.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $111.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $0.8975 dividend. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.59%.

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.