WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $95.00 to $98.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. WEC Energy Group traded as high as $96.54 and last traded at $96.20, with a volume of 54064 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.85.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WEC. Bank of America lifted their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.42.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total value of $557,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,208.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at $340,712.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,702 shares of company stock valued at $1,078,058. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,445,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,355,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $106,385,000 after purchasing an additional 22,026 shares during the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new position in WEC Energy Group during the second quarter worth $231,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 119,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,411,000 after purchasing an additional 4,835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $88.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $30.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 72.93%.

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.