Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases 6,104 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD has increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 1.2%, owning 504,184 shares valued at approximately $54.95 million.
• Insider activity includes Director Gale E. Klappa selling 35,000 shares, resulting in an 11.29% decrease in his ownership, while EVP Molly A. Mulroy sold 4,030 shares, a 40.88% decrease in her ownership.
• WEC Energy Group reported $0.76 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and has set FY 2025 guidance between 5.170-5.270 EPS, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.8925 per share.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 504,184 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,104 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.16% of WEC Energy Group worth $54,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth about $403,372,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 12,777.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,834,024 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $199,872,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819,782 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 3,815.2% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,471,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $138,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433,522 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 34.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,213,304 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $567,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,349,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 16.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,103,604 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $556,191,000 after acquiring an additional 726,267 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEC has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group set a $107.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 price objective on WEC Energy Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded 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 report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 5,960 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.98, for a total value of $661,440.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 274,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,516,059.62. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 5,930 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.14, for a total value of $659,060.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $734,190.84. The trade was a 47.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,448 shares of company stock worth $7,581,132 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of WEC traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $106.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,551,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,174,486. The firm has a market cap of $34.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.42. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.89 and a 1-year high of $111.90. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $107.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.54.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.170-5.270 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

About WEC Energy Group

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.