Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 89,140 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its WEC Energy Group stake by 16.9% in the second quarter, buying 89,140 shares for a total holding of 617,881 shares valued at approximately $72.3 million.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with WEC receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $121.91, despite several recent target reductions.
• WEC reported quarterly EPS of $0.91, exceeding the $0.80 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 2.6% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.9525, equivalent to a 3.6% annualized yield.

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 617,881 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 89,140 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.19% of WEC Energy Group worth $72,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 972.7% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 236 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,101.04. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $122.00 to $114.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings cut WEC Energy Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on WEC Energy Group from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $126.00 to $117.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $121.91.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC opened at $105.79 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $111.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.47. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.95 and a 52 week high of $119.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.53.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 16.69%.The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue 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, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $0.9525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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