Heartland Advisors Inc. Takes Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors acquired 108,279 shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter, valued at approximately $12.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 77.2% of the utility company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive but cautious outlook, with WEC receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $121.91, despite several recent downgrades.
• WEC reported quarterly EPS of $0.91, exceeding estimates of $0.80, while revenue rose 2.6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9525 per share, representing a 3.6% annualized yield.

Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 108,279 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,644,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 113.9% during the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 246 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 972.7% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 236 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WEC. Weiss Ratings cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their price target 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $110.50 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, May 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $121.91.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $106.33 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.95 and a twelve month high of $119.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $34.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.47. The company's 50 day moving average is $112.86 and its 200 day moving average is $113.71.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. The business 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.9525 per share. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.84%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 980 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total transaction of $103,468.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,588 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,101.04. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source