Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Reduces Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec reduced its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,694,798 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 205,440 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned about 0.54% of WEC Energy Group worth $159,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3,828.6% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 140.8% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 590 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised WEC Energy Group from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.38.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC stock traded up $1.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $109.85. The stock had a trading volume of 923,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,288,149. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $111.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $35.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.19.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.09. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.97 EPS. The company's revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $0.8975 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $3.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is 73.91%.

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.