Energy Income Partners LLC Sells 12,939 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Key Points

• Energy Income Partners LLC reduced its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.8%, owning approximately 0.14% of the company after selling 12,939 shares.
• Goldman Sachs downgraded WEC Energy Group from "neutral" to "sell" and lowered its price target from $106.00 to $100.00, while Wells Fargo increased their target from $115.00 to $124.00.
• WEC Energy Group announced a quarterly dividend of $0.8925 per share, which corresponds to an annualized payout of $3.57 and a yield of 3.4%, with a planned payment on September 1st.

Energy Income Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 443,876 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,939 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC owned about 0.14% of WEC Energy Group worth $48,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,722,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $538,112,000 after purchasing an additional 173,006 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 34.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,213,304 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $567,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,349,522 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 16.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,103,604 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $556,191,000 after acquiring an additional 726,267 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,274,385 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $466,451,000 after acquiring an additional 33,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,003,464 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $436,298,000 after acquiring an additional 188,057 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Scotiabank set a $115.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $107.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.40.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC stock traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $106.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,835,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,982,644. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.94 and a 1-year high of $111.90. The company has a market cap of $34.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 2.93 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 50-day moving average is $107.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.61.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.170-5.270 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $0.8925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $179,820.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,259,960. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 5,960 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.98, for a total transaction of $661,440.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 274,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,516,059.62. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,448 shares of company stock worth $7,581,132 in the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About WEC Energy Group

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.