Fifth Third Bancorp Cuts Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 77,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,063 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $8,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WEC. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake 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 increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 41.3% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,925,000 after purchasing an additional 7,841 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.3% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 44,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 477.4% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 333,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,756,000 after purchasing an additional 275,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 8.8% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 58,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,082,000 after purchasing an additional 4,730 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $117.67 on Friday. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.61 and a 12-month high of $119.62. The stock has a market cap of $38.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $115.66 and a 200 day moving average of $111.99.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 12.40%. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a $0.9525 dividend. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 78.88%.

Insider Activity

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,450 shares of the business’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 directly owned 20,541 shares in the company, valued at $2,353,998.60. The trade was a 6.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 8,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.70, for a total transaction of $895,452.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 66,801 shares in the company, valued at $7,394,870.70. The trade was a 10.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,354 shares of company stock valued at $4,855,505. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $127.00 target price on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.94.

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.