United Services Automobile Association Purchases Shares of 7,528 WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• United Services Automobile Association has invested $810,000 in WEC Energy Group by acquiring 7,528 shares in the first quarter, indicating a growing interest in the utilities sector.
• WEC Energy Group reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.76 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and achieving a year-over-year revenue increase of 13.4%.
• The company has recently cut its dividend to $0.8925 per share, representing a yield of 3.3% and a payout ratio of 68.39%.

United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,528 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $810,000.

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

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC Energy Group stock traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $110.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,532,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,207,757. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.94 and a 12-month high of $111.90. The company has a market capitalization of $35.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $107.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.80.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. WEC Energy Group's revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.170-5.270 EPS. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is currently 68.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Molly A. Mulroy sold 4,030 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.33, for a total value of $444,629.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,113.57. The trade was a 40.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 35,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.73, for a total transaction of $3,875,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 274,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,447,317.37. This represents a 11.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,448 shares of company stock worth $7,581,132 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.40.

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.