WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Receives $101.88 Consensus PT from Analysts

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $101.88.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WEC. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America raised shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total transaction of $119,795.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,286,635.67. The trade was a 4.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 3,828.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in WEC Energy Group during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

WEC Energy Group Stock Up 0.0 %

WEC Energy Group stock opened at $105.75 on Friday. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $76.78 and a 52 week high of $106.75. The firm has a market cap of $33.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $98.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.835 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. WEC Energy Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.91%.

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.