Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Purchases 301 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the first quarter worth $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 52.6% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. KeyCorp increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.00.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $99.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $31.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $94.19 and a 200-day moving average of $86.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $99.99.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,712.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.45, for a total value of $66,337.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,876 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,932.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,712.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. Corporate 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.