WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Shares Bought by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 73,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $7,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, 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 transaction of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $101.05 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.49. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted 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 company 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%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

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.