WEC Energy Group, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.84 (NYSE:WEC)

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 17th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of 0.835 per share by the utilities provider on Sunday, December 1st. This represents a $3.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%.

WEC Energy Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 22 consecutive years. WEC Energy Group has a dividend payout ratio of 64.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect WEC Energy Group to earn $5.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.34 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.0%.

WEC Energy Group Price Performance

NYSE WEC opened at $99.14 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $93.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.88. WEC Energy Group has a 52 week low of $75.13 and a 52 week high of $99.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.44.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.04. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.26% and a net margin of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total value of $301,449.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Mary Beth Straka sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.04, for a total transaction of $301,449.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,712.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP William J. Guc sold 6,000 shares of WEC Energy Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.99, for a total transaction of $557,940.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,208.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,702 shares of company stock worth $1,078,058 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WEC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on WEC Energy Group from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on WEC Energy Group from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

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.