WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.40.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WEC shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, 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 for the company.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of WEC opened at $94.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. WEC Energy Group has a 1 year low of $75.13 and a 1 year high of $102.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $96.67 and a 200-day moving average of $92.30. The company has a market cap of $29.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48.

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

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.8925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 87.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the company’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. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 64,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,193,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,392,000. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in WEC Energy Group by 51.0% in the third quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,883,000 after buying an additional 10,126 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in WEC Energy Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,047,000 after acquiring an additional 7,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $532,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

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.