Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 175% in the fourth quarter, ending with 3.36 million shares worth about $354 million.
• WEC Energy Group reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $2.45 beating estimates and revenue of $3.43 billion topping expectations.
• The utility continues to offer a solid dividend, recently paying $0.9525 per share quarterly, for an annualized yield of about 3.4%.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 175.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,357,608 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,136,542 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.03% of WEC Energy Group worth $354,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 112,314 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,845,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. HFR Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. HFR Wealth Management LLC now owns 103,388 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,903,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 6,405 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344 shares during the period. Havemeyer Place LP purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter worth $172,000. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth about $264,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 4,665 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total transaction of $517,628.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $111.31 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $36.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.61.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.15. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 16.25%.The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.27 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group's quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WEC. KeyCorp increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Argus upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $119.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of 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, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $122.13.

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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