Gabelli Funds LLC Trims Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.9%, selling 12,000 shares and holding 619,470 shares valued at approximately $67.5 million.
• Institutional investors significantly increased their positions, with Nuveen LLC acquiring over $403 million worth of shares and GAMMA Investing LLC growing its holdings by 12,777.6%.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on WEC Energy Group, with Goldman Sachs downgrading the stock to a "sell" rating, while Wells Fargo increased its target price, maintaining an "overweight" rating.

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 619,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,000 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.19% of WEC Energy Group worth $67,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 7,416 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $808,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 14.3% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 744 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 12.6% in the first quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 867 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 3,019 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.0% in the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,335 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 5,960 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.98, for a total transaction of $661,440.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 274,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,516,059.62. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,620 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $179,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,259,960. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,448 shares of company stock worth $7,581,132 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on WEC Energy Group and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $106.54. 1,551,785 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,209,881. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $34.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.42. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.89 and a twelve month high of $111.90.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%.The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.170-5.270 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.39%.

WEC Energy Group Company Profile

WEC Energy Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States. It operates through Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, and Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure segments.