Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,264 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $5,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 134.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,047,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,038,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329,574 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $188,879,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $36,421,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,972,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $185,499,000 after buying an additional 387,178 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WEC. Barclays raised WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.38.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $106.84 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $105.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.78. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.47 and a 52-week high of $111.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $34.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total value of $2,715,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.