Kestra Investment Management LLC Invests $61,000 in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $61,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Robbins Farley acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 20.7% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE WEC opened at $104.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $97.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.33. The stock has a market cap of $32.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.50 and a twelve month high of $104.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 73.91%.

About WEC Energy Group

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.