WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Shares Acquired by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 48.7% in the first quarter, and institutional investors now own about 77.2% of the utility company's shares.
• WEC Energy Group reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting $2.45 EPS and $3.43 billion in revenue, both above analyst estimates, while revenue rose 9% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.9525 per share, equal to a 3.3% annual yield, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with a $123.60 price target.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 48.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 34,458 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $12,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 16.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,698 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 2,417 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 41.3% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,839 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,925,000 after purchasing an additional 7,841 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.3% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 44,286 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 477.4% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 333,552 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,756,000 after purchasing an additional 275,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 58,364 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,082,000 after purchasing an additional 4,730 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company's stock.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of WEC stock opened at $116.22 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average is $113.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.36. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.49 and a twelve month high of $119.62. The company has a market capitalization of $37.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.15. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 16.25%.The business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.27 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.9525 dividend. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In related news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 4,665 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total value of $517,628.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 7,346 shares in the company, valued at $815,112.16. This trade represents a 38.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WEC shares. Barclays raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Mizuho set a $124.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $127.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.60.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WEC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.