WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $110.19 and last traded at $109.15, with a volume of 994774 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $106.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 3.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $33.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.79.

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

Insider Activity

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,635.67. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.62, for a total transaction of $2,715,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 274,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,865,612.10. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 3,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 14,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About WEC Energy Group

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.