WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors reduced its WEC Energy Group stake by 4.5% in the second quarter, selling 11,358 shares and retaining 242,818 shares valued at approximately $28.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 77.2% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.91, despite several firms recently lowering targets or downgrading the stock.
• WEC reported quarterly EPS of $0.91, exceeding the $0.80 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 2.6% year over year to $2.06 billion. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.9525 per share, equivalent to a 3.6% annual yield.

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC - Free Report) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 242,818 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,358 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of WEC Energy Group worth $28,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 121,431 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,179,000 after purchasing an additional 9,591 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 106.3% in the first quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 44,046 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,099,000 after purchasing an additional 22,697 shares in the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,155,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 377.5% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 15,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,652,000 after buying an additional 12,385 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 15.3% in the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 96,430 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,260,000 after buying an additional 12,773 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 980 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.58, for a total value of $103,468.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,068,101.04. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on WEC Energy Group from $122.00 to $114.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded WEC Energy Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $110.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $121.91.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC stock opened at $107.14 on Wednesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.95 and a fifty-two week high of $119.91. The stock's 50-day moving average is $110.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $34.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.47.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 16.69%.The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. Analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.9525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. WEC Energy Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.84%.

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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