Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Raises Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 24,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 34.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,213,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $567,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,349,522 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 16.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,103,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $556,191,000 after acquiring an additional 726,267 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,274,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $466,451,000 after acquiring an additional 33,810 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,003,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $436,298,000 after acquiring an additional 188,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth approximately $403,372,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $113.24 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.47. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.94 and a 12 month high of $114.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

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

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WEC shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 5,930 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.14, for a total value of $659,060.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $734,190.84. The trade was a 47.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.73, for a total transaction of $3,875,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 274,969 shares in the company, valued at $30,447,317.37. This represents a 11.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,448 shares of company stock worth $7,581,132. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Profile

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.