Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Takes Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec acquired 1.1 million WEC shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $128.3 million and representing a 0.34% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 77.2% of WEC.
• WEC reported quarterly EPS of $0.91, beating estimates of $0.80, while revenue reached $2.06 billion and rose 2.6% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $121.91.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9525 per share, equal to an annualized $3.81 and a 3.5% yield. WEC shares opened at $107.69, near the lower end of their 12-month range.

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,098,659 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $128,290,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owned 0.34% of WEC Energy Group as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 195.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 482,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,864,000 after acquiring an additional 318,846 shares in the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,155,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 121,431 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,179,000 after acquiring an additional 9,591 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 106.3% during the first quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 44,046 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,099,000 after purchasing an additional 22,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 698,377 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,356,000 after purchasing an additional 62,243 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 980 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total transaction of $103,468.40. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $126.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $122.00 to $114.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $121.91.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 1.0%

WEC stock opened at $107.69 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $112.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.63. 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 $35.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.47. 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 (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.69% and a return on equity of 12.90%. WEC Energy Group's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.9525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is 73.84%.

About WEC Energy Group

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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