Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. Invests $281,000 in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,985 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. KeyCorp upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WEC traded up $0.79 on Friday, reaching $99.18. 2,024,149 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,306,195. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.48. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average of $96.65 and a 200 day moving average of $93.15.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. WEC Energy Group's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.