Allstate Corp Purchases 12,728 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• Allstate Corp more than doubled its WEC Energy Group stake in Q4, buying an additional 12,728 shares and bringing its total holdings to 24,477 shares valued at about $2.58 million.
• Institutional interest in WEC remains strong, with hedge funds and other investors owning 77.2% of the stock, even as some other firms made smaller new purchases or increased positions.
• WEC reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $2.45 vs. $2.30 estimated, and it also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9525 per share, implying a 3.4% yield.

Allstate Corp grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 108.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,477 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,728 shares during the quarter. Allstate Corp's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 256.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 278 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WEC. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Argus raised shares of WEC Energy Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $122.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 4,665 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $815,112.16. This represents a 38.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC opened at $113.27 on Thursday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.49 and a 52-week high of $119.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $36.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.50. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $114.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.67.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.15. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.27 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a $0.9525 dividend. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is 76.05%.

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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