497,671 Shares in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Purchased by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 497,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $57,028,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WEC. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.7% during the third quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,012,000. Inscription Capital LLC acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $84,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:WEC opened at $109.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.33. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.37 and a 12-month high of $118.18.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.02. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.75%.The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.170-5.270 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.9525 per share. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WEC shares. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on WEC Energy Group from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Citigroup started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.29.

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.