Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC decreased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 98.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 132,117 shares during the quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WEC. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $70,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $210,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 10,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 3,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 33,852 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,433 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on WEC shares. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.33.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of WEC stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $104.50. 1,033,837 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,151,025. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.47 and a 12-month high of $111.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company's 50-day moving average price is $105.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.81 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a $0.8975 dividend. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is 69.59%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 2,155 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.77, for a total value of $232,244.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $289,470.22. The trade was a 44.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.