Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $341.29 Million Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 28.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,236,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,286,818 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $341,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $4,334,401,000 after purchasing an additional 819,627 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP lifted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 324.1% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 774,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,722,000 after purchasing an additional 592,028 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 195.1% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 482,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,864,000 after purchasing an additional 318,846 shares during the period. Finally, Mairs & Power Inc. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 1,793,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,557,000 after purchasing an additional 301,323 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WEC shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. Argus upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Mizuho set a $124.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.13.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $112.91 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $113.97 and a 200-day moving average of $111.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.49 and a twelve month high of $119.62.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 12.72%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.27 EPS. 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 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 4,665 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total value of $517,628.40. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.