BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Lowers Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp trimmed its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,748 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $5,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WEC. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 359.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 115,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,453,000 after purchasing an additional 90,062 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 76.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 28,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 12,471 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 49.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1,062.3% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 12,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 11,133 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 9.5% in the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $99.61 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $97.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $31.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.835 dividend. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % 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 company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Scotiabank upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of 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. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.45.

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.