WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Receives $94.00 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $94.45.

WEC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:WEC opened at $99.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. WEC Energy Group has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year high of $100.31. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.43. The stock has a market cap of $31.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.44.

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. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 72.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,335.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.75, for a total transaction of $31,412.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,335.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEC. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $2,639,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group during the fourth quarter worth $535,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 23.3% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 16.8% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 2,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in WEC Energy Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,558,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.