WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $101.68 and last traded at $101.55, with a volume of 1197420 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.35.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WEC. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

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 $32.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $97.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.31.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors 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 yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.40, for a total transaction of $179,417.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 58.1% in the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter worth $29,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter worth $29,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group during the second quarter valued at $36,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently 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.