WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 26.3% in the third quarter, buying 157,008 shares to hold 754,939 shares (~0.23%) valued at about $86.5 million.
• Analysts have an average rating of Moderate Buy with an average target price of $120.67, and recent upgrades include KeyCorp (to Overweight) and Argus (to Strong Buy).
• WEC beat the quarter with $1.42 EPS (vs. $1.39 expected) and $2.54B revenue (vs. $2.19B expected), and set FY2026 guidance of 5.510–5.610 EPS versus the Street's average estimate of 5.23.

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 26.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 754,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 157,008 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.23% of WEC Energy Group worth $86,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WEC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,945,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,162,348,000 after purchasing an additional 816,243 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 324.1% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 774,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $80,722,000 after buying an additional 592,028 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 160.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 943,962 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $98,361,000 after buying an additional 581,748 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,028,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,362,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Argus raised shares of WEC Energy Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $119.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $127.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $120.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.55, for a total value of $582,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 276,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,237,730. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.60, for a total value of $166,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,353,998.60. This trade represents a 6.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 42,354 shares of company stock valued at $4,855,505 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of WEC stock opened at $115.56 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.61 and a fifty-two week high of $118.18. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $111.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.62. The stock has a market cap of $37.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.58.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.03. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Company 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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