WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $96.91.

A number of research firms have issued reports on WEC. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of WEC Energy Group from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of WEC Energy Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WEC opened at $95.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $30.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. WEC Energy Group has a 52-week low of $75.13 and a 52-week high of $102.79.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE:WEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. WEC Energy Group had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.8925 per share. This is a positive change from WEC Energy Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is presently 81.66%.

Insider Activity at WEC Energy Group

In other WEC Energy Group news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total transaction of $677,980.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 1,805 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,160,851.20. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,794 shares of company stock worth $4,866,579. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the 3rd quarter worth $224,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 518.8% in 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 last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,450,000 after acquiring an additional 6,583 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.