Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after acquiring an additional 6,067 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 3,423 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 39.5% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,237 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $99.18 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $96.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.26. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $102.79. 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 has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.40.

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.