WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Stake Boosted by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3,828.6% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 140.8% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. KeyCorp increased their price objective on 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 increased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC opened at $107.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.47 and a 1-year high of $110.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $101.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.16.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.