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

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $103.07 and last traded at $103.05, with a volume of 130443 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $102.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on WEC Energy Group from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, WEC Energy Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.88.

WEC Energy Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $32.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.60.

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

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

The company 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 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. WEC Energy Group’s payout ratio is currently 69.15%.

Insider Transactions at WEC Energy Group

In related news, CEO Scott J. Lauber sold 6,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.89, for a total value of $677,980.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,611,581.01. This trade represents a 12.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gale E. Klappa sold 40,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.56, for a total transaction of $4,009,181.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 273,248 shares in the company, valued at $27,204,570.88. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,794 shares of company stock valued at $4,866,579 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WEC Energy Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 56,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,293,000 after buying an additional 7,264 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,212,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $396,114,000 after buying an additional 309,697 shares during the last quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $346,000. Polymer Capital Management US LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $511,000. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of WEC Energy Group by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 7,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 1,828 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.20% of the company’s stock.

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.