Ascent Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,302 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $1,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $403,372,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,213,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $567,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349,522 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,103,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $556,191,000 after purchasing an additional 726,267 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1,529.3% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 709,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,290,000 after purchasing an additional 665,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,519,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $274,564,000 after purchasing an additional 430,269 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WEC. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on WEC Energy Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup began coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.73, for a total value of $3,875,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 274,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,447,317.37. This represents a 11.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 4,177 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.30, for a total value of $460,723.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $193,797.10. The trade was a 70.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,448 shares of company stock worth $7,581,132 in the last ninety days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $113.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $36.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.94 and a 52-week high of $114.97.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.170-5.270 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.39%.

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.