WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Director Sells $119,795.50 in Stock

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) Director Ulice Payne, Jr. sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.17, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

WEC Energy Group Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of WEC Energy Group stock opened at $105.75 on Friday. 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. WEC Energy Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.78 and a 52-week high of $106.75. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.69 and its 200-day simple moving average 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 released 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). The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. WEC Energy Group had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that WEC Energy Group, Inc. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

WEC Energy Group Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on WEC shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of WEC Energy Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of WEC Energy Group from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on WEC Energy Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upgraded WEC Energy Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WEC Energy Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,970,000. LifeWealth Investments LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $200,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in WEC Energy Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,139,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of WEC Energy Group by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 47,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,468,000 after acquiring an additional 5,289 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WEC Energy Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $84,000. 77.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.