Bessemer Group Inc. Purchases 18,516 Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,148,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,516 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.35% of WEC Energy Group worth $132,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WEC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 151,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,608,000 after purchasing an additional 7,333 shares during the period. Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at $355,000. Enterprise Financial Services Corp purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the first quarter valued at $210,000. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the first quarter worth about $3,470,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 109,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,680,000 after acquiring an additional 7,838 shares in the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $127.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho set a $124.00 price target on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $119.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.07.

Insider Activity

In other WEC Energy Group news, EVP Daniel Krueger sold 4,665 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $815,112.16. This represents a 38.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $113.36 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.95 and a 52 week high of $119.91. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $36.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.47.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 16.25%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.27 EPS. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.9525 per share. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 76.05%.

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.