Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $54.69 Million Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 897.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 568,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 511,618 shares during the quarter. WEC Energy Group makes up about 0.8% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $54,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 359.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 115,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,453,000 after buying an additional 90,062 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 76.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 28,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 12,471 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 49.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 1,062.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 12,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 11,133 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $101.05 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $97.33 and a 200-day moving average of $89.49. The stock has a market cap of $31.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 81.66%.

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.