Van ECK Associates Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 13.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,685 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $16,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WEC. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 113.9% in the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 972.7% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

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 transaction, the director directly owned 19,588 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,101.04. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEC has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on WEC Energy Group from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered WEC Energy Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $126.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $110.50 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.91.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WEC opened at $106.36 on Tuesday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a one year low of $102.95 and a one year high of $119.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.53.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 16.69%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. On average, analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 73.84%.

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.