Prospera Financial Services Inc Sells 473 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Prospera Financial Services Inc cut its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 473 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The trade was a 43.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,204,570.88. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 51,314 shares of company stock worth $5,047,988. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on WEC. Scotiabank lifted 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 research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $100.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $31.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 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. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $101.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $96.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.85.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given 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 dividend yield of 3.32%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

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.