Align Financial LLC Takes $14.82 Million Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Align Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 148,171 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $14,817,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $4,334,401,000 after acquiring an additional 819,627 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,838,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $928,653,000 after purchasing an additional 88,557 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,336,861 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $562,826,000 after purchasing an additional 52,467 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,641,145 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $383,995,000 after purchasing an additional 48,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 175.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,357,608 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $354,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,136,542 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WEC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $127.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, May 24th. Mizuho set a $124.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $122.13.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 1.9%

WEC stock opened at $112.46 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $113.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.54. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.49 and a 52-week high of $119.62.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.15. The business 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.27 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 given a dividend of $0.9525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.05%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 4,665 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total transaction of $517,628.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $815,112.16. This represents a 38.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.

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