Zacks Research Issues Optimistic Estimate for WEC Earnings

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) – Research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for WEC Energy Group in a report issued on Monday, December 23rd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.23 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $2.17. The consensus estimate for WEC Energy Group’s current full-year earnings is $4.89 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for WEC Energy Group’s Q3 2025 earnings at $0.86 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.36 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.30 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $1.03 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

WEC Energy Group Stock Down 0.2 %

WEC opened at $94.87 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group has a one year low of $75.13 and a one year 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.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 15.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. WEC Energy Group’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.8925 dividend. 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 3.76%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 87.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WEC Energy Group news, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of WEC Energy Group 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. The trade was a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in WEC Energy Group by 17.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $224,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of WEC Energy Group by 518.8% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 431,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,463,000 after acquiring an additional 361,434 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,450,000 after purchasing an additional 6,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in WEC Energy Group by 56.6% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 6,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 2,358 shares during the last quarter. 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.