WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Rating Increased to Neutral at Bank of America

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $98.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $90.00. Bank of America‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 2.34% from the company’s current price.

WEC has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.91.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $95.76 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $30.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group has a fifty-two week low of $75.13 and a fifty-two week high of $102.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $97.67 and a 200-day moving average of $90.28.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that WEC Energy Group will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WEC Energy Group

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 2.0% in the third quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 6,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

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.