WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Short Interest Up 27.8% in June

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,970,000 shares, an increase of 27.8% from the May 31st total of 7,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $77.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.42 and a 200 day moving average of $81.03. The company has a market capitalization of $24.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.41. WEC Energy Group has a 12 month low of $75.13 and a 12 month high of $93.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business’s revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 72.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEC. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 87.2% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 51,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,135,000 after buying an additional 23,903 shares during the period. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth about $321,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 64.0% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 20,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 8,123 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth about $11,624,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in WEC Energy Group by 132.1% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 32,986 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,657,000 after purchasing an additional 18,775 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WEC. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

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.