WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $104.16 and last traded at $103.01, with a volume of 1728160 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $102.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $32.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.22.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.835 per share. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is 73.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WEC. Creative Planning raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 57,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 132,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,716,000 after purchasing an additional 11,198 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in WEC Energy Group by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $792,000. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new position in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. 77.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.