Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires Shares of 36,184 WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 36,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,403,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 54,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares during the period. Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,075,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 51,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,864,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 113,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,714,000 after acquiring an additional 13,410 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.3 %

WEC stock opened at $107.12 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $101.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.16. The company has a market capitalization of $33.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.47 and a 52 week high of $110.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now directly owns 274,955 shares in the company, valued at $29,865,612.10. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the director now owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About WEC Energy Group

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.