Swiss National Bank Buys 72,600 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 954,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 72,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.29% of WEC Energy Group worth $110,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 175.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,357,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $354,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,136,542 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,099,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,334,401,000 after acquiring an additional 819,627 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 30,697.3% in the 3rd quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 620,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,111,000 after purchasing an additional 618,550 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 324.1% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 774,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,722,000 after purchasing an additional 592,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 603.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 414,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,664,000 after purchasing an additional 355,144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:WEC opened at $112.62 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.95 and a 52 week high of $119.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $113.62 and a 200 day moving average of $113.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.47.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.15. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.9525 per share. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $127.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. Mizuho set a $124.00 price target on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $119.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 4,665 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 7,346 shares in the company, valued at $815,112.16. The trade was a 38.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.