Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 819,627 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• Vanguard increased its stake by 819,627 shares in the quarter and now owns 41,099,951 shares of WEC (about 12.63%) valued at roughly $4.33 billion.
• WEC announced a quarterly dividend of $0.9525 per share (annualized $3.81) with an ex-dividend date of May 14 and a yield of about 3.3%, payable June 1.
• Q4 results showed $1.42 EPS (beating estimates) and $2.54 billion in revenue (down 8.8% YoY); management set FY2026 guidance of 5.510–5.610 EPS, in line with analysts' average of ~5.6.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,099,951 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 819,627 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.63% of WEC Energy Group worth $4,334,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 256.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 278 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 294 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.5%

WEC opened at $115.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $37.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.53. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $115.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.95. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $100.61 and a one year high of $119.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.59.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 15.90%.The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.9525 per share. 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 3.3%. WEC Energy Group's payout ratio is 78.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on WEC. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America set a $116.00 target price on WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One research 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, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $121.94.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 2,815 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.50, for a total transaction of $325,132.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 4,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at $543,658.50. The trade was a 37.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 5,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.55, for a total value of $582,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 276,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,237,730. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 42,354 shares of company stock valued at $4,855,505. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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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