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

Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 31.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WEC. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of 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. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % 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. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC stock opened at $95.74 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $102.79. The company has a market cap of $30.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $97.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.54.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.8925 per share. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 81.66%.

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.