WEC Energy Group (WEC) Projected to Post Quarterly Earnings on Tuesday

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) is expected to be announcing its earnings results before the market opens on Tuesday, February 4th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $1.49 per share and revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter. Individual that wish to listen to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect WEC Energy Group to post $5 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $99.27 on Monday. WEC Energy Group has a twelve month low of $75.13 and a twelve month high of $102.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $31.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.55.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 81.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on WEC shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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 boosted 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, Barclays raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,160,851.20. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. Insiders own 0.34% 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.