WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Barclays currently has $93.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $89.00.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on WEC Energy Group in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.40.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

NYSE:WEC opened at $93.79 on Thursday. WEC Energy Group has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.67 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46.

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, 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.8925 dividend. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 87.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 106,685.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,000,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,500,680,000 after buying an additional 25,975,652 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in WEC Energy Group by 17,270.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,718,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691,017 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 102.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,776,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,223 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,900,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,765,000 after buying an additional 695,317 shares during the last quarter. 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.