Portfolio Design Labs LLC Invests $1.13 Million in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• Portfolio Design Labs purchased 9,666 WEC Energy Group shares worth approximately $1.13 million, while institutional investors collectively own 77.2% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $121.91, although several firms recently lowered targets or downgraded the stock to neutral or market perform.
• WEC reported quarterly EPS of $0.91, beating estimates of $0.80, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.9525 per share, equivalent to a 3.5% yield.

Portfolio Design Labs LLC purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,129,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 5,040.6% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 32,386 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,415,000 after purchasing an additional 31,756 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 195.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 482,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $50,864,000 after purchasing an additional 318,846 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,155,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 8.6% in the second quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 121,431 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,179,000 after purchasing an additional 9,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106.3% in the first quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 44,046 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,099,000 after purchasing an additional 22,697 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded WEC Energy Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $124.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered WEC Energy Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $110.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price 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 dropped their target price 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 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $121.91.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 980 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total value of $103,468.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,101.04. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of WEC stock opened at $108.40 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $113.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.76. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.95 and a twelve month high of $119.91. The company has a market capitalization of $35.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.47.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company's 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, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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