Paradigm Financial Partners LLC Buys Shares of 5,480 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Paradigm Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,485,000. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 23,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after buying an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 358.6% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 3,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 2,743 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 6,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 5,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $81.49 on Monday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $97.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.40.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $78.00 target price (down from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.64.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

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. In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.89, for a total transaction of $223,258.70. Following the completion of 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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.