OLD Republic International Corp Purchases 143,400 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• OLD Republic International Corp increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 42.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 143,400 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 479,679 shares worth about $50.6 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to their WEC positions, and overall institutional ownership stands at 77.2%, showing strong outside investor interest in the utility.
• WEC Energy Group recently beat earnings and revenue estimates, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.9525 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 3.4%.

OLD Republic International Corp increased its position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 42.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 479,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 143,400 shares during the period. WEC Energy Group makes up approximately 2.0% of OLD Republic International Corp's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. OLD Republic International Corp owned 0.15% of WEC Energy Group worth $50,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,099,951 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,334,401,000 after purchasing an additional 819,627 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 30,697.3% in the 3rd quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 620,565 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $71,111,000 after purchasing an additional 618,550 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 324.1% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 774,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $80,722,000 after purchasing an additional 592,028 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,046,591 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $349,109,000 after purchasing an additional 337,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 195.1% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 482,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,864,000 after purchasing an additional 318,846 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 4,665 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total value of $517,628.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $815,112.16. The trade was a 38.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.60, for a total transaction of $166,170.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,353,998.60. The trade was a 6.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WEC shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Friday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Argus raised WEC Energy Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $122.13.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $113.28 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.49 and a fifty-two week high of $119.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $36.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.50.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.27 EPS. WEC Energy Group's 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, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be given a $0.9525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is 76.05%.

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.

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