WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC Shares Sold by Earnest Partners LLC

Earnest Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 7.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,828,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 155,072 shares during the quarter. WEC Energy Group comprises approximately 0.9% of Earnest Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Earnest Partners LLC owned 0.56% of WEC Energy Group worth $209,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 41.3% in 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 during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 368,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,369,000 after purchasing an additional 3,563 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 25.3% during the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 32,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,437,000 after purchasing an additional 6,652 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 29.2% during the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 2,632 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 2.1%

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $117.48 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $111.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $38.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.58. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.61 and a 52 week high of $118.18.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 15.90%.WEC Energy Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.510-5.610 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.60, for a total transaction of $166,170.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,353,998.60. This represents a 6.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 8,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.70, for a total transaction of $895,452.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 66,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,394,870.70. This represents a 10.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,354 shares of company stock valued at $4,855,505. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WEC. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $124.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Argus upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.67.

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.