UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Has $180.01 Million Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management reduced its stake in WEC Energy Group by 0.3%, owning approximately $180 million worth of shares after selling off 5,418 shares during the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their positions in WEC Energy Group, with Charles Schwab Investment Management growing its stake by 34.9% during the same period, now holding shares valued at about $567 million.
• WEC Energy Group's shares received a series of downgrades from analysts, with price targets set as low as $100, contributing to a consensus "Hold" rating with a target price of $106.40.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC cut its position in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,651,795 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,418 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned 0.52% of WEC Energy Group worth $180,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,213,304 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $567,727,000 after buying an additional 1,349,522 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,103,604 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $556,191,000 after buying an additional 726,267 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,274,385 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $466,451,000 after buying an additional 33,810 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,003,464 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $436,298,000 after buying an additional 188,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,935,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $370,128,000 after buying an additional 526,014 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on WEC. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $109.70 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $107.80 and a 200-day moving average of $106.80. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.94 and a 1-year high of $111.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $35.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.170-5.270 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.8925 per share. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is 68.39%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 9,231 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.88, for a total transaction of $1,023,533.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 56,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,258,399.84. This represents a 14.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 5,960 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.98, for a total transaction of $661,440.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly 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 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Profile

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.

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