CIBC Asset Management Inc Boosts Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,507 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 17,563 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $8,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter valued at about $619,000. Lifeworks Advisors LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 5.9% in the third quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 2,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.3% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 22,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 932.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 33,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,194,000 after purchasing an additional 29,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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 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. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 43.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 46.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC traded up $1.85 on Friday, hitting $97.98. 2,087,394 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,187,937. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $100.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The business's fifty day moving average is $96.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted 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. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

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

WEC Energy Group Company 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.