KeyCorp Increases WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Price Target to $108.00

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) had its price target raised by KeyCorp from $103.00 to $108.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock. KeyCorp also issued estimates for WEC Energy Group’s FY2024 earnings at $4.87 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $5.50 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $5.87 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $6.24 EPS.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $97.19 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.97 and a 200 day moving average of $86.51. WEC Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $100.31.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 12.26%. WEC Energy Group’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio is 72.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,335.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Joshua M. Erickson sold 350 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,335.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Anthony Reese sold 1,362 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at $129,796.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 47.1% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,849 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 13.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 11,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378 shares during the period. Ariston Services Group purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth approximately $214,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth approximately $1,653,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the third quarter worth approximately $237,000. 77.20% of the stock is 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.