National Bank of Canada FI Buys 40,115 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 167,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,115 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.05% of WEC Energy Group worth $16,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WEC. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 4.7% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 154,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,126,000 after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 8.5% in the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 3,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 8.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 60,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,771,000 after acquiring an additional 4,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 122.5% during the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 2,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WEC shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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 note on Monday, December 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.18.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of WEC stock opened at $97.15 on Wednesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year 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. The stock has a market cap of $30.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $97.69 and a 200-day moving average of $90.09.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was 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 that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This trade represents 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. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.