CIBC Asset Management Inc Acquires 17,563 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,563 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $8,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $619,000. Lifeworks Advisors LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 2,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 22,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 932.3% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 33,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,194,000 after purchasing an additional 29,992 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 246,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. This trade represents a 46.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares in the company, valued at $716,208.98. This represents a 43.79 % 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 Trading Up 1.9 %

WEC stock opened at $97.98 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $96.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.30. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $100.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.44. 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 (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during 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 was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WEC. Bank of America raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

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.