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% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,563 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $8,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 7.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 335.4% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 54,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,442,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 19.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 109,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,985,000 after purchasing an additional 17,807 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2,949.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 232,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,204,000 after purchasing an additional 224,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 35.0% in the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 29,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,310,000 after purchasing an additional 7,640 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $97.98 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $100.31. The stock has a market cap of $31.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.24 and a 200-day moving average of $88.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.