WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Price Target Raised to $109.00

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) had its target price upped by KeyCorp from $108.00 to $109.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock. KeyCorp also issued estimates for WEC Energy Group’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.47 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $4.92 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $5.27 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $5.58 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $6.00 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $6.40 EPS.

WEC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.55.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

WEC opened at $97.09 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. WEC Energy Group has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79. The firm has a market cap of $30.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s fifty day moving average is $97.63 and its 200-day moving average is $89.80.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total value of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Czech National Bank grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 7.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,392,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2,949.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 232,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,204,000 after acquiring an additional 224,410 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,047,000 after acquiring an additional 7,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 35.0% in the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 29,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,310,000 after purchasing an additional 7,640 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by 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.