Coldstream Capital Management Inc. Acquires 888 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after buying an additional 4,205 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth $1,392,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 51.0% during the third quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 10,126 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,047,000 after acquiring an additional 7,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth $532,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock opened at $95.74 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $30.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $102.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $97.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.8925 dividend. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WEC shares. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.91.

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.