WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.40.

WEC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.7 %

WEC stock opened at $98.02 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $31.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.48. WEC Energy Group has a 1-year low of $75.13 and a 1-year high of $102.79. The business’s 50 day moving average is $96.73 and its 200-day moving average is $93.87.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 316,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,746,000 after acquiring an additional 8,896 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $205,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at $1,802,000. Scientech Research LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 35.9% during the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 8,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 2,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 5.0% during the second quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,223,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,971,000 after acquiring an additional 58,695 shares in the last quarter. 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.