Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Cuts Stock Position in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 878,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 47,885 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $100,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,945,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,162,348,000 after acquiring an additional 816,243 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 592,028 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 160.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 943,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $98,361,000 after purchasing an additional 581,748 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,028,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,362,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.55, for a total value of $582,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 276,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,237,730. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 2,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.50, for a total value of $325,132.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 4,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $543,658.50. The trade was a 37.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 42,354 shares of company stock worth $4,855,505 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $116.88 on Monday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.61 and a 52-week high of $118.18. The stock has a market cap of $38.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $109.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.26. 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 (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The company’s 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, research analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on WEC shares. Argus upgraded WEC Energy Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Bank of America set a $116.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.07.

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.