D.A. Davidson & CO. Increases Stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. $WEC

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 23,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,522 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in WEC Energy Group were worth $2,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 265.8% during the second quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WEC. Wall Street Zen downgraded WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Citigroup assumed coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Cowen started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $123.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $121.00 to $113.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.64.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:WEC opened at $105.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $108.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.10. The company has a market capitalization of $34.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.58. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.85 and a 1-year high of $118.18.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 12.60%. WEC Energy Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.170-5.270 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $0.9525 dividend. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.49%.

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.