15,721 Shares in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Acquired by Danske Bank A S

Key Points

• Danske Bank acquired 15,721 WEC shares worth approximately $1.84 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 77.20% of WEC, with several major firms also increasing or initiating positions.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $121.91, although several firms recently lowered targets or downgraded ratings. WEC shares recently opened at $106.33, near the lower end of their 12-month range.
• WEC exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.91 versus the $0.80 consensus, while revenue rose 2.6% year over year to $2.06 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9525 per share, equivalent to a 3.6% annualized yield.

Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 15,721 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,836,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 175.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,357,608 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $354,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136,542 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth approximately $97,564,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $4,334,401,000 after acquiring an additional 819,627 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $95,395,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 3,337.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 700,527 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $81,097,000 after purchasing an additional 680,148 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 980 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total transaction of $103,468.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,068,101.04. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $110.50 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. 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. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $126.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $121.91.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $106.33 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.39. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.95 and a 12 month high of $119.91. The company has a market cap of $34.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.47.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. WEC Energy Group's quarterly revenue 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.9525 per share. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is 73.84%.

WEC Energy Group Company 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.

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