WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Shares Purchased by AlphaQuest LLC

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC dramatically increased its stake in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter, buying 37,379 additional shares and lifting its holdings by 1,480.9% to 39,903 shares valued at about $4.21 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with 77.20% of WEC stock held by institutions and hedge funds, while several large investors including Vanguard and Pictet also increased their positions.
• WEC Energy Group reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.45 versus the $2.30 estimate and revenue of $3.43 billion, and it also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9525 per share, implying a 3.4% annual yield.

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 1,480.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 37,379 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $4,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,099,951 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,334,401,000 after acquiring an additional 819,627 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 30,697.3% during the third quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 620,565 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $71,111,000 after acquiring an additional 618,550 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 324.1% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 774,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $80,722,000 after acquiring an additional 592,028 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 12.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,046,591 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $349,109,000 after acquiring an additional 337,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 195.1% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 482,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,864,000 after acquiring an additional 318,846 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WEC. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho set a $124.00 price target on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $127.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded WEC Energy Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $122.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WEC opened at $113.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.50. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $102.49 and a one year high of $119.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $114.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.65.

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

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a $0.9525 dividend. 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 3.4%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.05%.

About WEC Energy Group

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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