Aberdeen Group plc Has $18 Million Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 157,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,297 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $17,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WEC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,945,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,162,348,000 after purchasing an additional 816,243 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,594,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $892,020,000 after buying an additional 235,653 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,046,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $349,109,000 after acquiring an additional 337,300 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,609,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $271,941,000 after acquiring an additional 162,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,030,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,574,000 after acquiring an additional 30,987 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 8,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.70, for a total transaction of $895,452.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 66,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,394,870.70. The trade was a 10.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.55, for a total value of $582,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 276,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,237,730. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,904 shares of company stock valued at $4,689,335. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEC has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Bank of America set a $116.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $119.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.07.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $113.50 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.58. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.61 and a twelve month high of $118.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.00.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.9525 per share. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 78.88%.

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.