Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 2,111 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $178,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 69,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 26,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 7.6% during the third quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 3,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 1.1% in the third quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 83,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,707,000 after buying an additional 917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.4% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 91,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,393,000 after buying an additional 2,130 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:WEC traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $84.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,773,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,123,135. The stock has a market cap of $26.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $80.94 and its 200 day moving average is $81.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.42. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $95.70.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 13.01%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WEC. KeyCorp boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total value of $223,258.70. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on 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 owns 43,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,402,131.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total transaction of $2,925,694.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.