Choate Investment Advisors Increases Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Choate Investment Advisors increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3,828.6% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 140.8% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $107.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $77.47 and a one year high of $110.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.16. The stock has a market cap 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.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value 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 approximately $2,286,635.67. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group 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.