Johnson Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 19.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Balentine LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.7% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 36,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,037,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Keystone Financial Group increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 3,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC traded up $0.03 on Friday, reaching $80.70. 2,252,427 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,162,475. The firm has a market cap of $25.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $81.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.61. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $93.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.55.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.07. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 13.01%. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.93%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares in the company, valued at $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank reduced their target price on WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.29.

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.