WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Research Coverage Started at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $102.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

WEC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of 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, Barclays raised their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $91.31.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $93.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. WEC Energy Group has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $96.65.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,335.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total value of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares in the company, valued at $213,335.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $120,918.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,796.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 52.6% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.