Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 648 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth $29,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Three 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $101.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $97.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.42. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 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 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

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.