Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Grows Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,374 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $8,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park National Corp OH increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $99.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.44. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $99.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. Analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,335.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at $213,335.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.00.

WEC Energy Group 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.