Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Lowers Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 58.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 31,390 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 7.0% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 2,949.7% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,047,000 after purchasing an additional 7,646 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 35.0% in the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 29,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,310,000 after acquiring an additional 7,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 359.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 115,116 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,453,000 after buying an additional 90,062 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. This represents a 43.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,045 shares of company stock valued at $1,038,807. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC traded up $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $99.26. 1,933,441 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,153,576. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $96.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.56. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $100.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.40 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.835 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.