Associated Banc Corp Sells 11,947 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• Associated Banc Corp reduced its WEC Energy Group stake by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,947 shares and ending with 27,381 shares valued at about $2.89 million.
• WEC Energy Group beat Q1 earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $2.45 versus $2.30 expected and revenue of $3.43 billion versus $3.32 billion forecast. The company also raised its FY 2026 EPS guidance to 5.510–5.610.
• The utility declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9525 per share, implying a 3.4% annualized yield, while analysts currently have a Hold consensus rating with a $122.13 target price.

Associated Banc Corp lowered its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 30.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,381 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,947 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WEC. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 2,400.0% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 256.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 278 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $113.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.50. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $114.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.63. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.49 and a twelve month high of $119.62.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 16.25%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.27 EPS. 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 Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.60, for a total transaction of $166,170.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,353,998.60. This represents a 6.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 4,665 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $815,112.16. This trade represents a 38.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $119.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Barclays upped their price target on 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. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $127.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on 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 given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $122.13.

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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