Captrust Financial Advisors Boosts Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 11.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,583 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,323,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 7,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 6.1% during the second quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 7,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $581,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 35.1% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 79,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,214,000 after buying an additional 20,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 31.5% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 70,109 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,501,000 after acquiring an additional 16,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $97.71 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $97.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $30.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.46.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WEC. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,204,570.88. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.