WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) VP Sells $325,132.50 in Stock

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) VP Mary Beth Straka sold 2,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.50, for a total value of $325,132.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 4,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $543,658.50. This represents a 37.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE WEC traded down $1.50 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $113.95. 353,408 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,426,866. The company’s fifty day moving average is $108.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.59. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.61 and a fifty-two week high of $118.18. The stock has a market cap of $37.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.58.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 15.90%.The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. On average, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $0.9525 dividend. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 175.0% during the 4th 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. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,099,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,334,401,000 after acquiring an additional 819,627 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 30,697.3% during the 3rd quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 620,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,111,000 after acquiring an additional 618,550 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in 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 valued at $80,722,000 after acquiring an additional 592,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 160.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 943,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $98,361,000 after acquiring an additional 581,748 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WEC. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Argus upgraded WEC Energy Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $129.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.07.

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.