Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Makes New $1.96 Million Investment in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• Daiichi Life Insurance acquired 16,753 shares of WEC Energy Group worth approximately $1.96 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors now own 77.2% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans positive: WEC has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $121.91 price target, although several firms recently downgraded the stock or reduced their targets.
• WEC reported quarterly EPS of $0.91, exceeding estimates of $0.80, while revenue rose 2.6% year over year to $2.06 billion. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.9525 per share, representing a 3.6% annualized yield.

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 16,753 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,956,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,319 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Inscription Capital LLC increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 2,036 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,762 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 1,964 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 980 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total value of $103,468.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,068,101.04. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WEC. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $122.00 to $114.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded WEC Energy Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $110.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Mizuho set a $124.00 target price on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $121.91.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $106.33 on Monday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.95 and a 1 year high of $119.91. The stock has a market cap of $34.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.86 and a 200 day moving average of $113.74. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 16.69% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is presently 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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