WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $104.16 and last traded at $103.01, with a volume of 1728160 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $102.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $32.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $97.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.22.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 5,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 21,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the period. Richmond Investment Services LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $574,000. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,433,000. Finally, GTS Securities LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $475,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WEC Energy Group Company Profile

WEC Energy Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides regulated natural gas and electricity, and renewable and nonregulated renewable energy services in the United States. It operates through Wisconsin, Illinois, Other States, Electric Transmission, and Non-Utility Energy Infrastructure segments.