WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Director Ulice Payne, Jr. Sells 1,450 Shares of Stock

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,450 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director owned 20,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,353,998.60. This trade represents a 6.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:WEC traded up $0.45 on Thursday, reaching $115.87. 194,558 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,344,642. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.58. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.61 and a 52-week high of $118.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $109.38 and a 200-day moving average of $110.17.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $0.9525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 78.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $129.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $127.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday, January 30th. 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.07.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 16.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 41.3% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,925,000 after buying an additional 7,841 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth approximately $212,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 6.8% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.4% in the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 42,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,402,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.