Valmark Advisers Inc. Has $776,000 Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Valmark Advisers Inc. cut its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,322 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 5.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 47.6% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,441,000 after purchasing an additional 17,791 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $300,000. First Personal Financial Services raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 236.3% in the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 1,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 36.3% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 6,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 13th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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. KeyCorp upped their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.64.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock traded down $1.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $81.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,945,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,418,732. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.40. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $97.34.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 14.98% and a return on equity of 12.17%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 79.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,622,595.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Gale E. Klappa sold 37,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.69, for a total value of $2,925,694.20. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 274,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,622,595.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 2,830 shares of the firm’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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.