Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Lowers Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 77.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 105,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 354,481 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $11,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 25,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,718,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 38,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,080,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 156.2% in the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 48,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,114,000 after purchasing an additional 29,567 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,150,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 187,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,785,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 4,665 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total value of $517,628.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,112.16. This represents a 38.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $113.30 on Monday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.49 and a 1 year high of $119.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $113.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.69.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.15. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 16.25%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.9525 dividend. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $119.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Mizuho set a $124.00 target price on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.13.

About WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based regulated energy holding company whose primary businesses are the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and the distribution of natural gas. The company operates through a set of utility subsidiaries that provide bundled energy service, customer billing and energy-related programs to residential, commercial and industrial customers. As a regulated utility group, WEC’s operations focus on delivering reliable service while managing infrastructure investment and compliance with state and federal utility regulation.

Its utility subsidiaries include well-known regional operators such as We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, along with Chicago-area natural gas utilities that were part of the Integrys Energy Group acquisition.