284,723 Shares in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Bought by Dearborn Partners LLC

Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 284,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $33,247,000. WEC Energy Group makes up approximately 1.5% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth about $299,100,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 175.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at about $144,582,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at about $128,290,000. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at about $97,564,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:WEC opened at $106.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $34.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.47. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $102.95 and a one year high of $119.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.59.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 16.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.84%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total transaction of $103,468.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,588 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,101.04. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WEC. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut WEC Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $110.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.91.

WEC Energy Group Profile

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.