Zacks Research Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for WEC

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note issued on Monday, December 23rd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $2.23 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.17. The consensus estimate for WEC Energy Group’s current full-year earnings is $4.89 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for WEC Energy Group’s Q3 2025 earnings at $0.86 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.36 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.30 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $1.03 EPS.

WEC has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America raised WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

WEC stock opened at $94.87 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $30.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.26. WEC Energy Group has a 12-month low of $75.13 and a 12-month high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.12. The company 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 revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,806,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,276,000 after purchasing an additional 699,177 shares during the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 518.8% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 431,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,463,000 after purchasing an additional 361,434 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,450,000 after acquiring an additional 6,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 56.6% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 6,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total value of $4,009,181.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. This is an increase from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.29%.

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.